The Mouth of Yomi
by Silvershadowfire
Summary: Sequel to Discovery; takes place a few months later. Yugi and Atem have started a new life, and possibly a new relationship, when they are abruptly separated. Who has done this and what will Yugi do to get his yami back? Yaoi YXYY COMPLETED
1. The Angel and the Pharaoh

Well, here's a new (and longer, I hope) story in my own little corner of the YuGiOh universe.

REPOSTED, minus lemony goodness. Sorry! They deleted me.

Fair warning, this story is rated R, for later chapters. It's YAOI (Pair: Atem/Yugi).

This is a sequel to my first fanfic, Discovery, and is dedicated to Yami Tangela, who gave me my first review!

Speech through the mind link = :Hello:

Japanese Glossary:

Mou hitori no boku : Another me (Yugi's original name for Atem in the manga)

-kun: Honorific used between male friends the same age

-chan: Honorific literally meaning "little", it's used by Atem to show affection.

Aibou: Partner. Atem's name for Yugi in the manga

If I missed any, e-mail me and I'll let you know.

DISCLAIMER: Because I don't want to write this out for every chapter: Characters based on the manga YuGiOh, published by Shonen Jump (Viz), used in this (entire) fan fiction are the intellectual property of Takahashi-sensei. I don't own them. I did not nor will I receive any money for this writing - it is purely for entertainment purposes. The story, however, is of my own creation.

(I still want to rent Bakura Ryou-chan though. He he.)

The Mouth of Yomi - Chapter One - The Angel and the Pharaoh.

"Atem-kun, what are you doing?" Yugi asked, wrinkling his nose and trying not to sneeze as something fine drifted down his face.

"Oi, hold still, Yugi-chan." Atem admonished. Yugi felt the other teen tap him gently on the nose and smothered a sigh. "I don't want to have to start over, you know - I'm almost done." Obligingly smoothing his features, he instead began to tap gently on his chair.

The dry heat of August pervaded the attic bedroom the twain shared, making Yugi sweat under the towel looped over his shoulders. It was almost time for the Day of the Dead, the time of mourning and celebration; so Atem and Yugi had decided to throw a costume party. To add to the fun (at least, that's how Atem had put it) they had decided to pick out what the other would wear to the party.

So Yugi sat on a chair in the attic bedroom the two shared, eyes closed. Atem finished with whatever he'd been doing to Yugi's face and moved behind the chair. A tug on his hair made him jump, but true to their bet he kept his eyes closed.

"Atem-kun, that hurt."

"Sorry, Yugi-chan!" Atem answered in a sing-song voice, not sounding sorry at all, and continued his work. He began humming softly to himself, a thoroughly contented sound, and Yugi groaned inwardly. The only time his yami hummed was in the shower and when he was plotting mischief.

He'd found out a few things about the ex-Pharaoh in the last five months since he'd been reincarnated. For one thing, Atem had a positive passion for dressing Yugi up like a doll, usually in the most outrageous fashions. He also had a streak of mischief in him a mile wide, a side of the King of Games that no one but his aibou ever saw.

Atem continued with what he was doing, still humming. Yugi felt something clip onto his upper ear, then into the hole at the bottom of the lobe. After three solid months of nagging, Yugi had finally given in and gone to get his ears pierced. He was still holding out against any other piercing, thank you very much.

"Stand up and hold out your arms." Atem said suddenly, after a last tug on Yugi's hair.

Again he did as he was told, standing up in only a pair of briefs. The towel was taken from his shoulders - making him shiver as a draft hit the sweat underneath - and something cold was pushed onto his upper arms. They felt like armlets, but thicker that he usually wore. Something heavy settled around his neck and chest - not the Puzzle, but it was certainly metal. Then Atem slipped something heavy on his wrists, and what felt like rings on his hand. What felt like a light skirt wrapped a couple of times around his waist and fastened at the front, secured by a fabric belt. Something heavy settled on his head. He heard Atem pace a few times around him, then felt a hand lead him across the room.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now." The Pharaoh said, repressed glee in his voice.

"Oh, Kami-sama, what's he done to me?" Yugi thought as he opened his eyes. Then he stared at the mirror he was facing, jaw open in shock.

For a wild second, he thought he was looking at his yami. Then he realized that it was a mirror, and stared some more.

Atem had dressed him as a Pharaoh, down to every detail. He practically dripped gold jewellery; the pleated kilt of cotton linen around his waist looked perfect. He wore no shirt, but instead a wide neckpiece of beaten gold inlaid with jewels he didn't recognize. The crown sat on his forehead, wide winged sides flaring out behind his blond bangs. And he was wearing makeup!

Dark eyeliner surrounded his wide purple eyes, and his eyelids had been dusted with blue and gold powder. More gold powder dusted his spiked hair, into which Atem had woven gold and blue beads.

"Just need the sandals…" Atem said thoughfully. "But that can wait, it's warm enough to go barefoot. We often did in Egypt. So, what do you think? I couldn't find kohl and lapis dust, but I thought this works just as well, and it isn't as messy to put on."

"I…" Yugi blinked. "I…Is that really me?" He looked different, older somehow in that costume.

The Pharaoh surveyed Yugi's reaction and tried very hard not to burst out laughing. Oi, the boy looked good. He probably didn't even realize it, but Yugi'd grown in the last few months. He and Atem were the same height - 5'6", which was tall for an Ancient Egyptian Prince but fairly short by today's standards - and had filled out a bit. His skin was still Japanese pale compared to the Pharaoh's bronze, but other than that and some tiny differences in hair and eyes, they could be twins.

'Hm. Yami and Hikari, Darkness and Light.' Atem thought idly as Yugi got his vocal apparatus working again. 'Damn, he does look good in that outfit - good enough to eat. Too bad he's not showing signs of leaning that way.' Atem laughed to himself. Thanks to his returned memories, he remembered a great many things, and not all of them had to do with the Shadow Games. He remembered that lovely girl his uncle had given him for a thirteenth birthday gift, and that cute servant boy with the blue eyes. Then there was the time that he and Set had gone to that brothel…Atem blushed at the thought, catching Yugi's attention.

:What is it, mou hitori no boku?:

:Shouldn't I be calling you that, mou hitori no boku?: Atem returned. Yugi laughed, diverted.

"Hai, at least when I'm dressed like this. Thank you, Atem-kun. I like it very much."

"Good." The Pharaoh started to put away the make-up he'd used on his aibou when suddenly Yugi grabbed his hand.

"Oh no, you don't, Atem-kun. Now it's your turn." Pulling at the Pharaoh's hand, Yugi brought him into the spare room, where an outfit was waiting.

Atem blinked. The first thing he noticed was it was WHITE. Entirely. Completely. Yugi expected him to wear that?

"Put it on, Atem-kun." Yugi grinned. "I just have to get something."

With a sigh, Atem walked in the room and picked up the clothing. Skin tight leather pants and a silk shirt…hm. This might not be so bad after all.

He'd just finished doing up the last of the buttons on the shirt when Yugi returned, carrying something nearly as big as he was. At first Atem had the impression that his aibou was carrying a fluffy stuffed animal - then he took a closer look.

"You have got to be kidding!"

"Nope. These go on over the shirt." Yugi grinned fit to split his face in two, eyes sparkling. "In fact, since I'm the Pharaoh for the day it seems, you might consider it an order."

"Oi. Of course, Oh Mighty Pharaoh." Atem actually sketched a bow, ironic though it was. Yugi giggled.

It took the two of them to get the full sized angel's wings attached to Atem's back. When they were in place, Atem grumbled but had to admit, it didn't look too bad, all things considered. Especially if he left the to three or four buttons on the shirt undone. Yugi vanished again a re-appeared with the pot of gold dust Atem had used, sprinkling it on over the head and wings of his yami.

"Perfect." Yugi smiled. "A hallowed glow for my angel."

"Lovely." Atem said dryly. "All I need now is a harp."

The party was smaller than it might have been - Anzu was away in New York, visiting with a cousin and wouldn't be back until late that night. Seto, of course had declined the invite, but Mokuba had been able to come. Jounouchi, Suzuka and Honda both came, but Otogi had declined. Bakura was there too.

Despite the small numbers, they'd had a great time. Everyone had been fooled at first into thinking that Atem had answered the door, when it had been Yugi; the yami found that hilarious. He wasn't as amused when they saw his costume and laughed, though.

Five pizzas, a movie and innumerable party games later, Yugi finally let Jounouchi out the door with his sister and sighed. He looked at the clock - it was nearly one in the morning. At least it was easier to sleep in the cooler part of the night.

Atem sprawled across the couch, wings askew, half-asleep. He looked so sexy in that outfit; just looking at him made Yugi blush.

Confused, he turned away. He knew he liked girls - knew it for a fact. So why did the sight of his yami in a rare moment of vulnerability make him want to pounce on him like a cat, cuddle up to his chest and purr?

'I'm just tired.' he thought as he made a cursory pass of the living room, getting the worst of the garbage cleaned up. He'd do the rest in the morning.

"Leave that, aibou." Atem murmured from the couch, purple-crimson eyes half lidded. "I'll help you with it in the morning."

The Millennium Puzzle was upstairs in their bedroom, so Yugi couldn't speak mind - to - mind with the Pharaoh. He turned to glance at Atem with a tired smile.

"I just want to get the pizza boxes away and the glasses in the sink, or it'll be a royal mess tomorrow." he answered. When he was done, Atem had closed his eyes again, head tossed back on the armrest, mouth open. Yugi blinked at the pose, a blush burning his cheeks again as he felt himself stir. Walking over to the couch, Yugi tugged at the wide ribbon attaching the wings. The slip-knot came loose and he managed to tug them free. Atem sighed in his sleep, curling up on his side. Tossing a blanket over his peacefully sleeping other half, Yugi turned to go up the stairs to his room, then stopped. He faced Atem again and, greatly daring, kissed him gently. A tiny smile curving his lips, the Pharaoh sighed again.

Shaking his head at his own confusion, Yugi went upstairs to his room. Without bothering to turn on the lights, he slipped the elaborate gold crown off his head and placed it on the table next to the Puzzle.

"Here." a voice, deeper than his own, whispered in his ear as warm arms wrapped around his waist. "Let me help you with that."

"A..atem-kun?" Yugi asked as the other began unfastening the cotton kilt. The sudden warmth and soft breath in his ear had caused a definite reaction, one that his yami was sure to notice.

"Hai, Yugi-chan?" Deft hands had already relieved him of the loose cotton. Now Atem worked on the neckpiece, working the heavy gold free. Yugi gasped as a hot mouth landed on the junction between his neck and shoulder.

"Ahh…" His protest halted in mid-word by the sensations running through his body, Yugi shuddered as his yami licked his neck. "I… don't…"

"You don't?" The warmth around his waist vanished as Atem stood back - then a hand on his shoulders turned him around.

The silk shirt was unbuttoned completely now, as well as the top fastening of his pants. The sight of Atem's chest and stomach made Yugi even more aware of his excitement. His breath hitched as the fabric slid off one shoulder.

"Gomen nasai, Aibou." the Pharaoh said softly, not noticing his stare. "It's just when you kissed me downstairs, I thought that maybe…well, I suppose I thought wrong." Atem shrugged. In a flash of moonlight Yugi saw the haunted look in his partner's face. He turned to leave the room, but in that instant Yugi made his decision.

"Wait," he said, catching Atem's wrist. Daring, taking more of a risk that he'd ever had in his life, Yugi leaned over and kissed him again, full on the lips.

Neither teenager saw the shadowy form that lurked outside their window, waiting.

To Be Continued…

Okay, here it is WITHOUT lemons or kumquats or any other citrus fruits. ;)

This should be interesting - I tend to compose stories backwards, so I know what's going to happen, but I'm not sure how they're going to get there. Should be fun to find out. Provided my internet connection stays up, I should be updating at least once a week, and the way this is going it should be a longer story that the first one I did.

Anyone who wants to read the NC17 version, e-mail me and let me know, 'kay?

{shameless begging} R&R kudasai! Arigato!


	2. Vanishing Yami

Well, I guess I had better get on with Chapter 2, ne?

Thanks and hugs to my reviewers: Cha Oseye Tempest Thrain, Yana 5, Azremodehar and Kawaii-Chibi-Koneko. Also thanks to those who put me on their favourites and alerts lists. I hope I can keep everyone's interest.

Since there were no questions, I will get on with the technical shite and the story.

DISCLAIMER: See Chapter 1.

Glossary Addendum: -koi = love, or lover.

Koibito = Sweetheart

Baka = idiot

:Mind to mind speech:

Emphasis

Flashback

Chapter 2 Vanishing Yami

Yugi roused to the sun in his eyes and an aching body. Pain was not unfamiliar to him - as the smallest kid in school, he'd been a bully magnet - but this pain was different. He rolled over in his bed to get away from the light and found himself unable to. That woke him completely; beside him, cuddled tight in the narrow space, Atem slept soundly, a beatific smile on his face. Bits of gold still glittered in his dark hair. The previous nights events came back to him, and he gave a delighted shivered. For a moment he was tempted to just cuddle right back down beside his yami, but he felt sweat-sticky, grungy, and wanted a shower. With a sigh, he wiggled free of Atem's grip and slid out of bed. The Pharaoh frowned and groped the sheets for a moment - Yugi kissed him gently on the forehead and Atem settled down again into deep sleep.

In the bathroom, Yugi stepped into the shower and turned on the water, relaxing in the hot spray. He washed the remnants of makeup and the night's exertion off, trying to ignore his spinning thoughts and emotions.

He remembered the first time Atem had used the shower after he'd been resurrected. Yugi'd thought the other would never get out.

Flashback

"Atem? Are you almost done? I'm going to be late for school!"

:But this is heavenly, aibou. Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?: A sense of great contentment came with the words.

:Because you never wanted to get dressed while we were sharing a body. Are you coming out? At this rate you'll turn into a prune.: Yugi crossed his arms and tapped his foot. Besides needing to wash, he needed to pee. Badly.

:In a couple minutes, aibou.:

:You said that a couple of minutes ago.: Yugi sighed. :There is one small problem with modern showers, mou hitori no boku.: Yugi slipped into the bathroom and walked to the toilet.

:What is that, aibou?:

:The hot water runs out.: Yugi pushed the handle.

"AHHHH!" Atem jumped out of the suddenly icy cold stream. He glared at his diminutive twin, who was grinning fair to split his face.

end flashback

Abruptly a sharp pain stabbed into his arm. Yugi grabbed at it reflexively, but nothing met his fingers. He looked confused for a moment, then shrugged and finished his shower.

However, when he walked back into the bedroom, Atem was gone. The bed was empty, and the Millennium Puzzle was missing from it's place on the table. The curtains on the window moved as the morning breeze played with their folds.

Curious, Yugi, opened the bedroom door, wondering if maybe Atem had just gone downstairs. :Atem?: he thought. :Can you hear me?:

No answer, but at least he felt the comfort of the link between them. Evidently Atem wasn't wearing the puzzle, or else he would have answered. A gust of cold air hit him and he shivered with more than the chill - a worm of foreboding wriggled in his stomach. Where could his yami have gotten to?

Wait. Yugi turned to look at the window. Open space mocked him; the screen was gone. On closer inspection, Yugi could see that the black fine mesh had been cut away from the frame to hang limply outside. A ladder covered the distance to the ground. It took a moment, then the hikari put the pieces together. His koibito had been kidnapped.

Using language that would have shocked his friends to the core, Yugi grabbed the first clothing at hand - which happened to be Atem's white leather pants - and forced them on over his damp skin. Whoever had done this must have drugged his hitori no boku, or else he'd have put up a fight. The pair of them had many enemies - no telling who was behind this. He had to find the Pharaoh, and fast.

Soon his brain managed to calm his panicky emotions. Whoever had done this couldn't have gone far. He hopped out the window and down the ladder, closing his eyes when he reached the bottom to search out a direction through their link. Even though Yugi wasn't wearing it, the magic of the Millennium Puzzle still joined them as one. He could use that to find his koibito.

Then he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and cursed himself for sixteen types of baka. He could track down Atem now, but chances were good that even with the magic that Atem had been teaching him for the last few months, he'd be overwhelmed. With no clue who had done this, running into a situation blind would be a stupid, hair-brained stunt. So he shimmied back up the ladder and called the people he knew would back him up - Jounouchi, Honda and Anzu. For good measure, he called Mokuba and Seto as well.

For a moment after he woke, Atem couldn't figure out if he had his eyes open or closed. The area where he lay was quiet, dark and cold.

Under his body he felt chill grains - sand. His groping hand encountered a wall made of stone, slightly slick with moisture. A chill washed over him - he wore only a robe made of linen belted with - he felt the familiar leather and studs - his belt that carried his Magic and Wizards deck.

Where the heck was he and what had happened? The last thing he vaguely remembered…Yugi waking up and leaving their bed. Then a sharp pain in his arm, and blackness.

After which he'd woken up stiff, sore and in a very bad mood. Finally he sat up, sure that he was awake though the area remained pitch black. How long had he been here? Where was Yugi, and the Millennium Puzzle?

He could still feel their link, and from the emotions that came down it his aibou was frightened and worried but not in physical danger. Reassured, Atem rose carefully to his feet, one hand on the wall to keep from wobbling. He took a couple steps on shaking legs before taking a deep breath and beginning, with hand, nose and ear, to explore his prison.

The area where he found himself was fairly large, four paces to a side and nearly square. Interestingly, he found not one but two exits. A very unusual prison.

He'd just gotten his bearings and returned to the centre of the room when suddenly he was blinded by light. Blinking away the tears that sprang up, Atem tried to look at his prison, only to find he was no longer alone.

The new person in the cell was not his aibou. He was much taller than Yugi, draped in white robes and hooded - kanji that he didn't recognize were embroidered on the front. In his left hand he held the Millennium Puzzle.

"Give me that." the Pharaoh demanded.

The robed person chuckled softly - a male voice. "Forgive me for not obeying you, mighty Son of Ra, but I think that you are in no position to make demands." The tone in his voice mocked him. "I think that instead, you and I will play a little game…a Yami no game, ne?"

"Who are you?" Atem took a step closer to the man.

"I am your opponent; what else matters?" With a flick of his free hand, the man threw back the hood of his robes. With a cold smile on his grotesque features, the man - or creature - reached over and pulled the key piece - the one with the Sennen Eye on it - out of the Puzzle. Atem gasped, narrow purple-red eyes widening in denial as the creature raised the rest of the golden object above his head. "Now, game start!" With a crack that reverberated through Atem's soul, the Puzzle shattered.

Halfway down the stairs to open the front door, Yugi gasped as a cold hand gripped his heart. Claws ripped his mind - he barely felt his body collapse as half of his soul was ripped away.

Someone had broken the link.

To Be Continued…

Okay, it's a short chapter, but I'm having the opposite of writer's block - too many ideas. I'm not sure which way this should go!

Anyway, R&R kudasai! Domo arigato!


	3. Shattered

Anyway, on to Chapter Three. With luck, it will clear up any confusion left by my cliffhanger. If it doesn't…well, review me and give me hell, I guess. Or there was always that seppuku plan…

DISCLAIMER: See Chapter 1

Glossary: Ore-sama Akuma = King of the Damned (possibly) ;)

Mou Hitori no Yugi = The other Yugi. What Yugi's friends called Atem before he remembered his true name.

Yomi: One of the Japanese Hells

Chapter 3 Shattered

Atem stared blankly at the shattered pieces of the Millennium Puzzle lying at the creature's feet. Goosebumps ran up the young man's arms, reflecting the sudden cold at the centre of his being… freezing… empty…

"This is the game, Pharaoh Atem." the robed creature smiled, baring fangs. "I will give you the opportunity to fix the Puzzle. But to do it, you need all the pieces, ne? So, you will travel my labyrinth, battling what you find there. Each battle you win gains you another piece. When you reach the end, I will give you back the Eye of Ra and your hikari." The creature gestured with the puzzle piece he had taken. "Then you can destroy me if you wish."

"Who are you?" Atem asked dully, not moving his eyes from the bits of gold scattered on the floor. "Why have you done this?" For with the shattering of the Puzzle, his link with Yugi had vanished, leaving nothing in its place - just a black hole where half of his soul had been.

"Who I am is nothing. I have done this because I wish to see if you are truly the Yugioh, the King of Games."

"You…you…" Flickers of anger rose inside the yami, only to be swallowed by the void. A cold rage emerged instead - and he had a sudden urge to laugh. He hadn't felt that icy fury since he had linked with Yugi for the first time. The black hole within his heart consumed all his other feelings.

"So you did this to test me." Atem rose, his eyes gone strange - wild and fey. "Then know this, creature. I will win this game - and when I am done with you, the Batsu no Game I grant will be horrific beyond your imaginings. And I swear, anyone who harms my hikari will suffer for three thousand years."

The creature laughed, a cold sound. Then he vanished, taking all the pieces of the Puzzle with him except the top loop, still with its chain. Atem walked over to it and slipped it on. It would help him focus; help him find his aibou, his hikari.

An icy calm settled over him as he made ready to play the game.

"This couldn't go better if I gave him a script." the creature laughed. A dark blur passed over it's features, making them appear much more human.

"All is going according to the plan." he said aloud. "When the Shadows consume you, Pharaoh, they will consume your power as well, opening the gates and setting me and mine free on the world. But in the meantime…"

The creature, who called himself Ore-sama Akuma, laughed aloud. Soon, very soon, the world would be his playground again. He had found a powerful source of ancient magic in the soul of the Pharaoh. It was a simple thing to break the link between Darkness and Light, that silly Puzzle. A simple thing, yet with such a profound effect, for without Light, the Darkness grows. And when Yami no Yugi finally fell in the dark, he would become a living portal to the Shadows, opening the gates of Yomi. When that happened, Osama Akuma would set his legions free, loose them on the world and on Heaven to overthrow the Divine Order.

"Play your game, Yami noYugi." the demon lord murmured. "Play the game that leads to your own defeat."

Yugi woke with a pounding headache and a sore body, but these pains were literally nothing compared to the ache in his soul. He gasped, tears running down his cheeks as he called after Atem and felt not even the ghost of a reply.

"Yugi-chan?" A moment after speaking, Anzu Mazaki appeared above his bed, her fine features lined with worry. Jounouchi showed up beside her, concern turning to a smile as he saw Yugi aware.

"Thank Kami-sama you're awake, Yugi-kun." his best friend grinned, slapping Yugi on the shoulder. The grin faded as he took in the lost look on Yugi's face and the tears still running soundlessly down his cheeks.

"Yugi-chan, what's wrong?" Anzu asked. "Are you hurt? It looks like you fell down the stairs - that's where we found you, anyway. What happened? Did you find Atem-chan?"

"Atem-koi" the young man whispered, his voice almost too quiet to hear. "Someone kidnapped Atem-koi, and now they broken the link." Waves of despair and a strange, burning pain filled him. He didn't want to move, or breathe, or live without his yami, the dark half who completed his soul…

Anzu felt a lurch in her heart when Yugi called Atem 'koi'. Short for 'kobito.' Sweetheart. Anzu had no idea either of them floated that way, and now... She had been carrying a torch both for Yugi and for his dark alter-ego since mou hitori no Yugi had saved her life from an escaped prisoner, although she hadn't known at the time that both were one in the same.

With an effort of will, Anzu pushed the growing turmoil in her heart aside. Yugi needed her - she could see the abject despair in his wide violet eyes. She reached up to touch his cheek and gasped. His skin was hot to the touch, as though he was running a fever; even the tears running down his cheeks didn't stop or slow, but evaporated before they reached the pillow.

"Jou-kun." she said, turning to the blond. "Yugi-chan's burning up. Can you get me…"

"I know what to do." Jounouchi turned quickly while the teenaged girl nodded. He might be a flake and a braggart, but he was also practical, legacy of his troubled upbringing. A few seconds later he returned with a bowl of cool, not cold water and a cloth. Anzu soaked the cloth in the water and placed it on Yugi's forehead.

"Here." Jounouchi reappeared at her elbow with a glass of water and a couple white pills. "Get him to take these - it should help take the fever down."

The door to the Kame game shop opened downstairs - Anzu and Jounouchi had taken Yugi up to his room when they'd come over to find him unconscious and twitching on the bottom landing. But they must have left the door unlocked. Vanishing down the staircase with a string of curses following him, Jounouchi went to confront the intruders.

Anzu touched the cloth - it was already dry, and Yugi had slipped into moaning delirium. She managed to get the pills inside him, and a couple more gulps of water, before his eyes slid closed. Even in sleep he moaned, calling out Atem's name.

He burned. Burned from the inside out, burned by the pitiless Light. Power unchecked and uncontrolled raced through him. Yugi screamed, looking for his shadow, his darkness. Why wouldn't Atem come to him? What was happening?

The scream woke him from nightmare into a reality which was little better. He lay on his bed, Anzu speaking words he couldn't understand. Jounouchi and Honda were there as well, both leaning over and pinning his arms to the bed. Where was Atem? The world spun dizzyingly and his stomach heaved. Strong hands lifted him out of the bed and carried him down the hall, Yugi trying desperately to find Atem. He screamed again, or thought he did.

Suddenly coolness engulfed him, wrapping chill fingers around his body. He gasped in reaction, then settled as the liquid he lay in dimmed the burning like a balm. With an effort he opened his eyes - white and blond hair met his gaze: Bakura and Marik were on either side of the tub he lay in, gently laving water over him.

"W..what…" he tried, but Bakura shook his head, pressing a wet finger to Yugi's lips.

"Don't try and talk, Yugi-kun. You're still very weak from the fever. Now close your eyes and don't move, ne?"

Weariness stole over him, and Yugi nodded. The water was beginning to feel warmer now, about the same as his body temperature. With a sigh he surrendered to the ministrations of his friends - but the despair in his shattered soul refused the be shifted. Atem was gone.

He was alone.

End of Chapter 3 Please R&R Kudasai! Arigato. bow


	4. The Shadow Games Begin

Disclaimer - see chapter 1.

Here we go. Thanks to everyone reading this. Special thanks to Cha Oseye Tempest Thrain for the editing.

Flashbacks

Note: I am using Bakura to refer to Bakura Ryou and Yami Bakura to refer to the Spirit of the Millennium Ring. I know this flies in the face of tradition, but...shrugs

Chapter 4 - The Shadow Games Begin

Pharaoh Atem stalked between the ebon walls of the maze, violet-crimson eyes wary for any movement. The very air seemed dark here, like and unlike the Shadow Realm from which he drew his power. This darkness was hungrier, somehow. More demanding. The walls of stone were cold enough to take the skin from your hand in an instant. He could see his breath forming tiny puffs of white mist. A strange illumination emerged from outside the maze, giving Atem just enough light to see.

Mind perfectly clear and cold, he held his Magic and Wizards deck in one hand, ready. While in this place he could probably summon monsters without it, but using the cards took less concentration and power. Idly he stroked his necklace with the other; the top loop of the Millennium Puzzle on it's silver chain.

'Find the pieces, solve the puzzle, find my hikari…' Like a mantra, the phrases ran through his mind. As long as he had a purpose, he could ignore the emptiness in his heart.

A single flash of claws - that was all the warning he had. Pain ripped through his shoulder and into his arm as he leapt backwards a split-second too late. Warm blood flowed but the Pharaoh ignored it.

"Dark Magician, attack!" he cried. With no one to impress or intimidate, Atem didn't bother with fancy commands or long-winded speeches. In a swirl of purple light, Atem's guardian spirit appeared. The soul of Maahado brought his staff around and lashed at the shadows with his power. A creature of nightmare - not a Duelmonster, but some other organism - screamed and vanished before it could even be readily identified.

The Magician looked back at his master, who simply nodded once. Standing idly on thin air, the Duelmonster watched as Atem flipped through his deck, looking for a certain card…

Before he could find and cast Red Medicine to heal his wound, he felt a cold caress against his shoulder. He gasped as a tendril of deeper darkness snaked out from the wall and latched onto the claw marks.

Cold rushed through him, along with an urge to hurt the demon who had set up himself and his aibou. At the thought of Yugi cold fury filled him again.

Suddenly the darkness spawned more creatures; a round dozen, all of whom had bodies of white flesh and dark, metallic claws. Atem narrowed his eyes and smirked. They were nothing, less than nothing to the power he carried.

Maahado lashed out with his power again, destroying several, but not all of them. The rest attacked the Dark Magician. None were as strong as he, but they still did him damage - pain that Atem felt as though his own body was being rent. Torn beyond endurance, the Magician disappeared back to the strange world where Duelmonsters resided. The Pharaoh loosed a battle cry and pulled another card - "Dark Hole!"

A vortex opened up in the black sky, swallowing all of the creatures. Atem laughed as pure ecstasy rushed through his body.

When the hole in reality closed, Atem looked at his feet. There glittered another piece of the Millennium Puzzle. He picked it - and a small bag he found beside it - up and looked at it curiously. Then he flipped the irregular chunk of gold into the bag and tied it securely. One down.

He checked his wounded shoulder, but the pain had vanished, leaving only pale, thin silver scars.

The living room behind the Kame Game Shop was quiet; too quiet considering the number of people there. Yugi, still asleep, lay on the couch where Jonouchi and Honda had laid him after his bath. The cool water immersion seemed to have helped a bit - the teenager was no longer so flushed and his sleep was no longer so restless. Anzu sat on a chair beside him, changing the cloth on his forehead while the others - Jonouchi, Honda, Marik and Bakura - stood or sat.

Anzu looked up at the white-haired teen, who sat quietly in a corner, not even restless. He was the reason they had not taken Yugi to the doctor when his fever had reached a 110 degrees.

flashback

"You can't take him to the doctor." Bakura said with unusual firmness. "I don't know why his body is reacting like this, but if he has been separated from his yami, then we can't let him out of our sight. I know what that's like - something that none of you except maybe Marik can understand - and Yugi is much closer to Atem than I was to Yami Bakura."

end flashback.

The bath had been Jonouchi's idea, a way to take Yugi's temperature down quickly, but not so quickly that he would go into shock.

"How long is it before Grandpa gets back?" Anzu asked aloud to no one in particular.

"Should be a few more days." Jonouchi answered, fiddling with his Magic and Wizards deck and shaking his wild dark blond hair from his dark eyes. "Hopefully Yugi-kun will be better by then." Outside the shop, thunder crashed as a summer storm whipped up the coast. "Oi, Marik-kun. How about a game?"

"Iie, Jonouchi-kun." the tanned Egyptian teenager shook his blond head. "I don't have my deck with me." He gazed over at Yugi and Anzu with concern in his lavender eyes.

"We need something to take the tension out." Honda decided, turning on the TV. A news program appeared on the screen - before the dark-haired boy could change it, Bakura reached out and grasped his hand.

"Look at that." the quiet teen admonished.

"…mysterious black dome that has appeared over the central Tokyo area, obscuring everything underneath from any scrutiny." the news announcer proclaimed in a tense voice. The picture cut from his face to a wide shot of Tokyo, obviously taken from a helicopter. "No one knows the cause of the phenomenon: neither scientific not government sources have any comment…" Everyone in the room was staring at the dome. They knew what it was - they had been in such a dome more than once during the Battle City tournament.

Jonouchi stared at the swirling purplish-black vapours of the Shadow Realm and shivered. He remembered the horrors that Yami Marik had unleashed during the Battle City finals. He glanced over at Yugi, and was shocked to find his wide violet eyes open, and glittering almost like amethysts.

"Jou-kun." he said weakly. Anzu gasped, turning away from the television in time to see the teenager struggling to sit up. She tried to stop him, but Yugi managed nonetheless. "Anzu-chan, please. I have to…what's happening?"

"Oi, Yugi-kun, Anzu's right. You shouldn't sit up." Honda walked over to the couch. "You've been very sick for the last couple days."

"Let him up." Jonouchi pulled Honda back out of the way and helped Yugi to sit up, despite Anzu's continuing protests. "Yugi-kun. How are you feeling?"

"I…" Suddenly he broke down into tears again. "I can't do this!" he wailed. "I can't…I need…" Anzu gathered him into her arms and held him as he wept.

"Can't do what? Yugi-kun, snap out of it." Jonouchi admonished. "Do you really think that Atem-kun would want you to be wailing like a little baby instead of taking up a challenge? Is that any way for the King of Games to act?"

"Atem-koi is the King of Games, not me." Yugi sniffed, but he looked at little more alert. Anzu and Jonouchi looked at each other. They had known Yugi the longest; this didn't sound like him. The self-confidence he had gained in the last couple years seemed to have vanished like snow in spring.

"Did you find Atem-koi?" Yugi asked then.

"Iie, Yugi-kun." Honda shook his head in honest regret. "Kaiba said to tell you that he looked all over Domino City, but there is no trace of him."

"We have found him." Marik contradicted. Everyone looked at the Egyptian. "Who else could be the cause of that?" he pointed to the screen, where the news was still airing shots of the dome. "That much Shadow Magic - only the Pharaoh could be the cause."

Yugi seemed to notice the TV screen for the first time. He stared at the dome as though seeing a lost paradise and nodded.

"Hai, Marik-kun is right. I think that he's there - though I could be wrong."

"Which means we have to go to Tokyo." Honda said firmly.

"But not right now." Anzu looked at the rest of the teenagers firmly. "We'll figure out how to get there tomorrow. Meanwhile, we should all of us get some rest." With that, she helped Yugi to his feet. "Can you walk?" she asked him.

"Hai."

"I'll help you get up the stairs, ne?" Jonouchi got up as well - together they got Yugi up to his bed. The other boy left, but Anzu lingered behind as Yugi settled in his bed, carefully not looking at the second empty bed in the room.

"Do you need anything?" Anzu asked.

The look Yugi turned on her was still full of despair, though he had stopped crying. "I…don't want to be alone, Anzu-chan."

She walked over to the bed and sat down. "You won't be alone, Yugi-chan. You're never alone. You have us."

"Hai, I know. But…" Yugi shuddered. "I can't feel you anymore. It's like a part of my heart died."

"Yugi…" Anzu fought an urge to hug him. "I don't know what to do."

She gasped as he hurled himself into her arms. "Hold me." he whispered brokenly into her ear. "Anzu, I need…someone to hold onto me. I'm slipping away, I can feel it. Please…" She wrapped him tight in her embrace.

"It's okay, Yugi-chan." she whispered back. "I'm right here. I'll never leave you…"

When Anzu didn't come down the stairs after him, Jonouchi had a few ideas about what might be happening up there. Honda did too, but when he suggested that they might want to check it out, the blond teen shook his head.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Honda-kun. Remember, Anzu-chan's the oldest friend Yugi-kun has - even before we became his friends, if you remember. I think it might be better to leave them alone. Oi, it's getting late. You and Marik might want to head home before your families start to worry."

"Alright. Anzu's right - well need our rest, but I'll be back tomorrow morning bright and early. You gonna stay here?"

"Hai, just in case something happens during the night. I don't want to leave Yugi unprotected - he's tough, but right now I don't think he'd be able to take care of himself."

"Aa. Good idea." Slapping Jonouchi lightly on the back, Honda stepped back into the living room. Taking one last look over his shoulder back up the stairs, Jonouchi followed.

"…think I'll stay as well." Bakura was saying as he entered the room. "Its not like I have anyone to go home to."

"Sounds good, Bakura-kun." Joey smiled at the white-haired teen. "I don't suppose you brought your duelling deck?"

Dawn had barely broken when Yugi woke, wrapped in warmth and comfort. For a wild moment he thought that Atem was back, but them memory returned.

Anzu slept on; she must have been exhausted after taking care of him for the last couple days. She'd fallen asleep fully dressed.

He felt weak, but the burning sensation had died down -his fever must have broken. The emptiness remained in his heart, but the words Jonouchi had spoken last night returned some of his fleeting confidence. He wouldn't get his yami back by sitting around crying. He had to do something - even if it meant walking into the Shadow-Realm and getting Atem out.

Slipping out of Anzu's embrace, he padded across the carpet of his room to his work table. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

Atem had been teaching him magic in the last few months - something that Yugi was only slowly getting a handle on. But the protection spell he'd picked up easily, which was a good thing, considering what he had to protect.

He held his hands out, forming a box with his fingers. Slowly he opened the fingers, one by one. He felt the magical energies of the spell dissipating, and when they were gone he opened his eyes again.

Before him, under the desk, lay a large chest. He pulled it out and opened the complex puzzle lock easily. Inside lay five of the seven Millennium Items - Eye, Rod, Ring, Tauk and Scales.

He would need all the help he could get.

Okay, that's it for this chapter! Please R&R!


	5. Shadow Madness

Next chapter, people! Thanks for the reviews!

Taking some advice from a certain reviewer, I'm going to try and make the sections longer.

And here comes my muse with the 2X4, so I had better get writing, ne?

{shadows speaking}

thoughts

Trans. Note: Kekui neb-heba.w = Dark Master of Games (Ancient Egyptian): Title used by Duelmonsters for Atem

Hikari no Yugi-sensei = Light Master of Games (Japanese): Title used by Duelmonsters for Yugi

Chapter 5 - Shadow Madness

Atem pulled a card from his deck without looking, casting blindly as literally dozens of monsters appeared from the black depths of the maze. No sense of time intruded on this place: he had no idea how long he had been fighting. His skin was covered in shining silver scars where the hungry shadows had healed his wounds.

The Feral Imp appeared and the Pharaoh swore harshly. The monster wasn't strong enough to hold off the onslaught - the only creatures in his deck that might do the trick were the Egyptian God Cards. Adrenaline washed through him, boosting his waning strength even as his Shadow powers seemed to grow. He focussed on the attacking monsters, but didn't summon anything yet. The Egyptian God Cards were wilful and difficult to command - he didn't dare think of what might happen if he lost control of such powerful creatures here.

The imp died with a scream, echoed a moment later as Atem's flesh was rent by the attackers. Red blood flowed over his ruined shift before the shadows latched onto him. He whimpered, but not from pain - a new wave of power washed through him, leaving purest ecstasy in its wake. Breathing harshly, he moaned as his body shook with reaction. Cold rage burned in his heart, along with the desire to _destroy_.

{Hunger.} Voices whispered in his mind. Atem vainly held his hands over his ears. {Feed us, Dark King. Feed us blood.} The voices - they had never been human; even demons had more of humanity about them. The shadows murmured in his mind, disrupting his focus, feeding on his blood and his mind.

"Get out of my head!" he wailed, hands buried in his wild hair. The next attack came, slashing him with pain that turned to sweet delight when the shadows drank his blood again. The more he fed them, the more the shadows granted him of their power. And of pleasure…oh Ra help him!

{Feed us.} He knew what they wanted. He knew what they needed; that same need ran through him like wine. His blood was no longer enough. They wanted more; _he _wanted more. They were part of him now and he was part of them and there was no light anywhere just monsters and shades and the voices and the power andandandand… Panting with painful effort, Atem pulled another card from his deck - this time his luck came through.

"Swords of Sealing Light!" Atem pulled back from the brink of madness, holding the magic card before him, calling the spell into reality. The monsters clawed at nothing as the bright swords walled them away from their prey. Blinking eyes which had become almost completely crimson, Atem got to his feet slowly. He stared at the creatures; raw magic seethed in his blood, demanding release. The shadows wrapped lovingly around him, whispering in his mind.

{Feed us, Shadow Lord. Feed us.}

He moaned again as his body shook with exhaustion - soon the Swords would vanish, leaving him vulnerable. He would lose…his hikari would die…no…not Yugi-koi, his love, his light, the other half of his soul.

With a groan somewhere between anguish and bliss, Atem raised his arms. There was no card for this, but he knew what to do.

He felt the Sennen Eye on his forehead begin to glow as he dropped the barriers that held his power. The darkness around him moved, restless, anticipating.

"Let the Shadows consume you." Voice ringing, Atem threw his head back as the Swords flickered and died. He didn't see the shades around him lurch forward, consuming the monsters utterly - he didn't have to. Dark energy flowed out of him, granting strength to the Shadows.

{Sweet so sweet death pain joy} The Shadows rejoiced in their feast. The Pharaoh dropped to hands and knees, shaking, stomach churning. His heart pounded, loud as a drum in his ears. He shuddered in the dark as the monsters died.

{Gift for you, Shadow King} Darkness wrapped itself around him, gentle as a lover.

Yugi-koi, aibou...__ Atem closed his eyes. Tendrils drew him upright, caressing, demanding. Something warm and salt-sweet poured into his mouth - he swallowed on reflex and choked. The coppery tang of blood filled his nostrils, but more than the physical taste was the emotional taste; fear and anger and helpless despair. It disgusted him - he wanted more. Anything to fill the emptiness left behind.

Koibito, please, be safe.__

Finally sated, the shadows withdrew, leaving Atem kneeling on the cold stone. No trace remained of the monsters. He groaned and threw up, rubbing his hands over his arms as though he could remove the stain that covered his soul. Foul. Tainted. Evil. The taste of blood remained on his lips, overcoming the sour bile. He resisted the urge to lick it off.

Struggling, he made it to his feet and stumbled a few meters further through the maze before physical and mental fatigue combined and he collapsed.

From out of the swirling shadows three figures approached, seemingly forming from the sable air. If Atem had been awake, he would have recognized all three as Duelmonsters. The first was very small, a brown puffball of fur with four tiny green legs and bright eyes. It floated towards the unconscious King of Games, making a worried 'ku' sound.

The other two appeared human, at least initially. On the left was a beautiful woman, dressed in long pale green robes. Her blue skin and delicate pointed ears contrasted with her long, blonde hair. She moved so gracefully it seemed she didn't even touch the ground.

Beside her a man with equally blue skin and wild, black hair stepped out of the shadows. Very tall, he was dressed in black leather covered in ornamental buckles and straps: on his head he wore a wide hat that resembled backswept horns. He frowned as the woman moved away, kneeling beside the figure of Atem. The puffball made the same worried sound again.

"Hush, Kuriboh." the woman murmured gently to the puffball, which floated down beside Atem and rubbed against his head. The woman touched the Pharaoh's skin and shivered.

"He is very weak, and freezing." she said to the man. Then she looked at Kuriboh. "You were right to bring us here. I know you want to help; may I cast a spell on you?"

"Ku." It was the same sound, but now the little Duelmonster sounded cheerful.

"What are you going to do, Mystical Elf?" the man - known to all as the Magician of Black Chaos - asked, hunkering beside her, staff across his knees. "Kekui neb-heba.w is very sick - the darkness in him is fouled."

"I cannot aid in that - my power is not nearly great enough." the elven spellcaster shook her head. "But this should help." Raising her head and closing her eyes, she sang, the music of her voice echoing in the dark labyrinth. Kuriboh suddenly started to multiply, one turning into two, and four, and so on until forty of them stared at her.

"Keep him warm." The hairy little monsters did as the elf commanded, cuddling up tight to Atem, forming a living blanket. They even managed to get under him, lifting him from the cold stone. The Pharaoh sighed as their warmth covered him and, reaching out sleepily, pulled one closer to use as a pillow. The little monsters 'kuu'ed and snuggled closer to their dark master.

"He will need new clothing." The Magician waved his staff and leather gear matching his own outfit appeared beside the sleeping Pharaoh, minus the hat. The Mystical Elf nodded and sang again, bringing food and drink to lie beside him as well. Atem moaned something that sounded like 'aibou'.

"There is little else we cannot do unless Hikari no Yugi-sensei comes." the Magician noted. "Kekui neb-heba.w seeks him but cannot find him. They cannot feel each other any more since the Puzzle was broken. Their power is unbalanced."

"Have a little faith." the elven spell caster smiled down at her master. "He is strong, and so is Hikari no Yugi-sensei. They will find each other." She looked up at the dark mage. "We can help them, can't we?"

"Perhaps…if Hikari no Yugi-sensei accepts his powers. Then maybe, just maybe, we can rejoin what was severed."

"Do we have enough strength?" the Elf asked with some concern. Below her, Atem sighed as he drifted into deeper sleep. "Compared to a Millennium Item…"

"I don't think we have much of a choice. As long as they are separate, they are more vulnerable to anything that might seek to do them harm." The magician twiddled with a lock of his black hair in an uncharacteristically nervous gesture. "In truth…I do not like these scars, and I fear for what might be happening to Hikari no Yugi-sensei."

"Hai." The Mystical Elf stroked Atem's wild hair. "You arrange help here. I will gather aid as well, and attempt to reach Hikari no Yugi-sensei. Stand ready - the window of opportunity may not last long."

The elf rose gracefully to her feet, put her hands together as though in prayer, and vanished.

The chains were weakening. There could be no doubt now. Ore-sama Akuma laughed softly to himself.

A thousand years, he thought. A thousand years it had been since the Celestial Emperor had bound him here with chains of golden light. Chains that could only be destroyed by 'One who is both Mortal and God, Darkness and Light.' The fool in his maze qualified - mortal body, considered a living god when he ruled Egypt, a being of darkness whose true name nevertheless meant 'light'. An added bonus lay in the boy's own magic prowess. Ore-sama Akuma laughed wildly in the darkness. When the Mouth of Yomi opened...

Yes, I know that in the card game and the English dub anime its 'Swords of Revealing Light' but in the original Japanese this is the name of the card and it works better in this situation.

This has been somewhat edited from the original, with a whole lot more foreshadowing and a bit more plot development. Hope you like!

Please R&R! Arigato!


	6. Gathering The Light

Thanks and hugs to my reviewers!

Here is chapter 6. Thanks to Cha Osye Tempest Thrain for beta reading.

DISCLAIMER: See Chapter 1

Chapter 6 Gathering the Light.

A soft footstep on the carpet behind Yugi brought him out of his contemplation of the Millennium Items. "Yugi-chan?" A gentle hand touched his shoulder; the words soft with concern. He stiffened reflexively before his mind identified the voice and he relaxed again. "Are you feeling any better this morning?" Anzu continued, kneeling down behind him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders, lightly. Just to let him know he wasn't alone.

Yugi didn't look at her. "Hai." He leaned back into her grasp for a long moment before turning around and disengaging her arms. "Can I ask you a favour, Anzu-chan?"

"Of course."

"Can you get Kaiba Seto over here?" Grasping the Millennium Rod without looking, Yugi brought it up between them. "I think we'll need his help." Amethyst eyes hardening as he stared at the item, he continued. "I won't take no for an answer this time. Nothing will stop me from getting Atem-koi back. Nothing, including Kaiba's damned stubborn pigheadedness."

He glanced back at Anzu and saw her expression - shock and concern. Instantly he regretted his outburst. He became angry so rarely, and after all the support she had given him, she didn't deserve it, even indirectly.

"Gomen nasai…" he started to apologize, but she just smiled and shook her head.

"It's okay, Yugi-chan. Didn't I say that you needed to be tougher, even before you solved the Puzzle? It's a bit of a shock, but I'm glad to see that you will fight for yourself and those you…love." She bit her lip at the last word and turned away, not wanting to meet that hard gaze any more. She saw in there some of the determination that had seen him through tournaments and evil magic, but there was something else she couldn't identify in the violet depths.

Yugi stared at the hurt and love in Anzu's dark gaze before she turned away. He reached out and lifted her chin so that she faced him again. Kami-sama help him; he loved her too, as more than a friend. Something like butterflies fluttered in his stomach as he leaned over and kissed her tenderly.

"Domo arigato, Anzu-chan."

Anzu stared at him, hands over her mouth in shock, before she rose to her feet and left his room. Yugi bit his lips and shivered. Damn him for an idiot anyway. What was he thinking? He was crazy to think that she might actually have the same feelings for a wimp like him. He made a fist and whacked himself soundly on the forehead before rising to his feet, emotions still in turmoil. Carefully he put the Millennium Rod back in the trunk.

"Baka." he said out loud to himself, walking over to the dresser and pulling on a clean set of clothes - grey hooded pullover and loose black jeans. Sliding on his slippers again, he reached automatically for the Millennium Puzzle that wasn't there. All the pain and loss rose in him again; the empty half of his soul ached. Tears started to run from his eyes; he dropped abruptly to the floor, legs curled against his chest as he buried his face in his knees.

"Yugi-chan." Anzu knelt down in front of him, shaking his shoulders. Yugi looked up to see Jounouchi and Bakura standing beside her. "That's enough. You have to pull yourself together for Atem-kun's sake."

"Hai, I know." Yugi wiped the tears from his face. "It just hit me again. Gomen, gomen nasai."

"You gonna be okay alone?" Jounouchi asked, concern shading his voice. "Anzu asked us to go get Kaiba with her, but…"

"I'll stay." Bakura said quietly. "You shouldn't be alone, Yugi-kun. Ne?"

"Hai." Jounouchi said before Yugi could answer. "That sounds good, Bakura-kun. Anzu and I can drag Kaiba's ass over here. We'll pick up Honda on the way, just to make sure, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, Jounouchi grabbed Anzu's arm, pulling her to her feet. She shot a look of concern and confusion over her shoulder as the blond teen dragged her out of the room.

"You hungry, Yugi-kun?" Bakura asked when the other two had left.

"Hai, I guess." He wasn't really, but he needed to keep up his strength. Before the white-haired teen could leave the room, however, Yugi called "Wait a sec."

Bakura stood, blinking in confusion, as Yugi went to his still-open trunk. This time he pulled out a different Item, a gold ring with a triangle suspended in the middle and decorated with the Sennen Eye; five gold pointers hung from the bottom of the outer ring. Bakura made a strange sound deep in his throat, reaching for the Item unthinkingly before he whimpered and pulled his hand back.

"Bakura-kun. I hate to ask this, but…" Yugi bit his lip, then continued. "I need all the help I can get. Will you…use the Ring again? Kudasai?"

"Iie, Yugi-kun." Bakura shook his head, but the look of longing in his chocolate eyes was too strong to ignore. "I…can't…What if…you know…"

"You miss your yami." It wasn't a question. It was a statement, one Millennium Item holder to another.

"Hai." Bakura admitted. "I miss him. I just wish I could find a way to co-operate with him the way you and Atem-kun do." The taller teen stood perfectly still, head down so that his bushy white hair covered his face. "Yugi-kun…"

"Well - maybe you can. Someday." Yugi stood and placed the Ring around Bakura's neck. "If you're lucky, he learned his lesson after the last run in he had with Atem-koi. And maybe now that Zork Necropoilis has been destroyed, he won't be quite so nasty."

"Or he could be worse." Bakura clenched the ring in both hands; for moment he looked as though he would remove it - then he sighed and dropped his hands again. When he looked up at Yugi, his eyes were full of tears. "Domo arigato, Yugi-kun."

Yugi hugged him and smiled. "I know. It's so hard to live with half a soul, once it's been complete."

"Hai." Ryou essayed a weak grin, holding up the Ring. "Oi, Yugi-chan. Should I apply for a part in _The Hobbit_?"

Yugi just chuckled.

The headquarters of Kaiba Corp in Domino City was impossible to miss - for one thing, it was by far the tallest building in town. For another the glass-sided skyscraper had a very unique design pattern - the Gaming Dome on the very top of the tower was a dead giveaway, making the giant KC logo emblazoned on everything they owned almost superfluous.

Jounouchi and Anzu, along with Honda who they had met a few blocks from the game shop, stopped outside the gigantic building, ornamented out front with two life-sized Blue-Eyes White Dragons.

"You don't suppose Dragon-boy's trying to compensate, do you?" Jounouchi commented idly.

"Nahh." Honda grinned. "He just built something the size of his ego."

"In that case it should be bigger than Domino City." The blond laughed as he led the others toward the entrance of the building.

The foyer was opulent; white marble floors, pale blue walls with dark accents and exotic plants everywhere. Only the best money could buy for Kaiba Seto. A security man sat behind the front desk, watching the teens as they entered the building.

"Can I help you?" he asked, politely enough.

"Yeah, we were wondering if Dragonsbr…urk!" Jounouchi gasped as Anzu elbowed him in the stomach.

"We need to see Kaiba Seto-sama, kudasai." the young woman looked pleadingly at the security guard. "It is very important that we see him now."

"Kaiba-sama is not available without an appointment, I'm afraid. You will have to phone his office."

"Is Kaiba Mokuba-chan here?" Honda covered Jounouchi's mouth before he could say anything stupid.

"Hai…he is in the building. I will call and see if he's busy, okay?"

"Domo arigato…" Honda and Anzu dragged Jounouchi out of earshot.

"Sama!" the teenager exploded when Honda released him. "Since when do you call him that, Anzu! Oi, I would rather roll on ground glass than speak to him like that!"

"It makes sense, Jounouchi-kun." Anzu said in a placating tone. "Seto-kun is very arrogant - if I have to kiss up to his ego to help Yugi-chan, then I will." Looking over at the guard, she rubbed her arms nervously. "You had a good thought, Honda-kun. If we can get Mokuba-chan to help us…Seto-kun rarely refuses his brother anything."

"Hai, and Mokuba-chan…" Honda broke off as a small boy with a mane of thick black hair popped up beside them.

"You talking about me?" Mokuba laughed as they jumped. He was dressed in his usual loose blue pants and sweater, the locket with Seto's picture in it swinging around his neck.

"Hai, Mokuba-chan." Anzu gave the boy a quick hug. Although utterly devoted to his onii-chan, he no longer shared Seto's animosity towards Yugi and his friends. "We need your help. We have to get Seto to come over to Yugi's place."

"Onii-chan is still looking for Atem-sama." Mokuba protested, stung that they might think Seto had gone back on his word.

"It's not that." Honda stuck his hands in his pockets, still keeping a close eye on Jounouchi, who looked as though he wanted to strangle Seto - not an unusual expression. "Yugi-kun…was very sick until last night. It's hard to explain, but…"

"It's one of _those_ things, isn't it." the boy said soberly. "What happened to Yugi-kun?"

After a quick explanation, Mokuba nodded. Also unlike Seto, he wasn't too blind to see things happening under his nose just because they were supernatural. "I'll get Onii-chan over there. I promise."

"When?" Anzu frowned. Yugi had sounded urgent, and she had no idea how long he could keep his mental equilibrium. His collapse in the bedroom had scared her.

"After lunch; Onii-chan promised to spend some time with me this afternoon. He even said I could pick where we went." The boy smiled at his own cleverness. Anzu sighed; Jounouchi and Honda wore unconcealed expressions of relief.

"Domo arigato gozaimasu."

True to his brother's word, after lunch Kaiba Seto found himself standing outside the Kame Game Shop, staring at the door. The sign said Closed, but Mokuba knocked loudly on it anyway. Seto crossed his arms and scowled. Even though he had agreed to help find Yugi's missing 'half', he still hated the fact that they had used his brother to get to him. He had a company to run; and he was busy enough that time spent with Mokuba was precious.

Bakura answered the door. Seto noticed he was once again wearing that gaudy amulet, the so called 'Millennium Ring'. "Come in." he invited in his soft voice. "Thanks for coming so quickly, Seto-kun, Mokuba-chan."

"This wasn't my idea." Seto growled as he followed Mokuba into the shop. "I would have told you if I had found any trace of Yugi's 'brother' Atem." Seto didn't buy that whole 'ancient revived Pharaoh' crap; the long lost twin story Yugi fed to everyone but his little cheerleading squad sounded slightly, just slightly more feasible.

Wordlessly, Bakura locked the shop door behind them, then led the two brothers up the stairs to Yugi's bedroom. Seto sneered at the humble furnishing - two beds, a couple dressers and a desk. Hardly enough for one person, let alone two.

To make things more uncomfortable, the room was packed. Seto groaned to himself, the sneer on his face deepening. The whole geek squad was here! Otogi was the only one absent. Seto folded his arms over his chest and glared at the central core of his problem, Motou Yugi.

Even he had to admit, the kid looked like hell. Pale washed out skin and messy hair, eyes red with crying…Supposedly, according to Mokuba, Yugi had been hit with a bad fever. No wonder he didn't look well.

"Thanks for coming, Seto-kun." Yugi greeted him, in a much more subdued tone than usual.

"Thank Mokuba-chan - he's the one who convinced me to come here. But if you don't have a good reason, then I'm leaving." Seto crossed his arms and assumed his classic 'I'm not impressed and the clock is ticking' pose.

"I have a reason." Yugi turned to a chest on the far side of the room, holding up something long and golden. "This is for you, Seto-kun. I need your help. Atem-koi needs your help. He's stuck in that glob of Shadows in Toyko, and I have to go rescue him."

"Oi, this is ridiculous." Seto sneered at the smaller teen. "Atem-_koi_, ne? That's just sick. I don't have time to help you find your runaway _boyfriend_, Yugi. With that he turned, his trench coat flaring behind him. "Come on, Mokuba-chan. Let's go."

"Seto." Yugi's voice changed, and he felt a firm grip on his arm, turning him. Surprised, Seto didn't fight the motion. He found himself staring at hard amethyst irises. They seemed to glow from within, and Seto thought, just for a moment, that he could see tiny pinpoints of light in the pupil.

"Look, Yugi…"

"Shut up, Seto." Determination and anger were written on the smaller teen's features, and for a moment madness swam in the depth of his eyes. "I don't have time to cater to your ego, or to put up with your stubborn foolishness." He brought the object in his hand around so that the taller teen could see it clearly - the Millennium Rod.

He pulled his arm out of Yugi's grip. "I'm tired of your little games, Yugi."

"ENOUGH." The volume of Yugi's shout made everyone jump. The light in his eyes grew stronger, making Seto step back reflexively. With an almost vicious movement, Yugi grabbed Seto's hand and wrapped it around the cool gold of the Rod. Instantly the Sennen Eye on the item began to glow. Seto found himself unable to look away from either it or the growing white light that surrounded Yugi.

Then the Rod flashed, spilling rainbow light through Seto's mind. He screamed as bottled up memories began to spill forth.

End of chapter! Also end of stuff that had to be re-posted. :)

R&R kudasai! Arigato.


	7. Priest's Memories and Light's Despair

Okay, here's Chapter 7. Thanks to my Beta-reader, Cha Oseye Tempest Thrain, and to Divey for the encouraging e-mails.

DISCLAIMER: Addendum to Chapter 1 Disclaimer: I do own the character Ore-sama Akuma, despite the fact that he is based loosely on several different Japanese myths and legends.

Note: _memory sequences are italicized._

thoughts are in pointy brackets.

Chapter 7 Priest's Memory and Light's Despair

He could smell the baked desert sand that floated on the breeze, catching in the back of his throat. The sun poured liquid light over topaz ground, while the singing of the slaves as they worked to clean the palace floor echoed in his ears.

Flashes of memory poured over him. Seto remembered learning the hieroglyphic script of the Temple of Ra, and the hieratic as well as Latin, Greek and Aramaic. Learning to cast the Shadow Magics of Ancient Egypt; the rituals to appease his chosen God, his namesake Set.

He remembered playing with the young Crown Prince of Egypt, and the nights they had spent simply talking, until Atem had received the crown and Seto had taken on his responsibilities as a High Priest, receiving the Millennium Rod.

Less than a year after that, when the kingdom had just begun to settle into its new ruler, Bakura the Thief had struck, nearly destroying the entire country of Egypt with the power of Zork Necrophidius. And his life had come crashing down around him.

Seto whimpered to himself; he didn't want to know this, didn't want to remember. But Yugi's hand still wrapped around his, the Rod flaring as it responded to the will of the smaller teen.

_Set stared at the white-haired thief with something resembling disgust to hide the roiling of fear in his guts. It hadn't been enough - all the efforts of the Millennium Items and their Shadow Magic had proved useless. Now the palace was crumbling around them, precursor to the destruction that would soon encompass all of Egypt._

"Set!" Jerking out of his musings, the High Priest stared at the source of the cry. Pharaoh Atem stood there, covered in blood and sandstone dust, his eyes a study in anguish. In one arm he carried a child, no more than a year old. Akunamun, his son and heir.

"Thank Osiris." Atem walked over and handed the baby to his startled priest. "Listen, there is only one way to stop this. I have to seal the magic away; seal the Shadow Games before the kingdom is destroyed."

"But that requires a sacrifice." Seto protested, looking down at the child in his arms.

"Yes. Listen. This is your last command from me, Set. Take the throne and rule as regent until my son is old enough to rule. Please. I know that there is no one who I can trust my kingdom and family to.

"What about the Queen?" he asked.

"She died." Atem said it flatly, not showing the raging grief in his voice that blazed in his crimson-hued eyes.

"Oh, Ra…" Set nodded. "Alright, Atem. If you die, I'll take the throne."

Atem smiled, a rare expression of true happiness. "Thank you, Set."

Rainbow light flashed, throwing him into another memory.

_"We have to leave." Set opened the door to the room where the strange white-haired girl known as Kisara was being held. "Now. This place isn't safe." He himself had imprisoned her, in an attempt to harness the incredible power of her Ka but somehow, without trying, this quiet beauty has stolen his heart instead._

Wordlessly Kisara complied, following the priest and the child. They made it almost out when suddenly the High Priest Akunadin, wielder of the Millennium Eye, blocked their way.

"I see you have the Pharaoh's brat." he stated calmly, staring at them both with the golden Eye. "Kill him, Set. Kill him and the throne is yours."

"Don't be ridiculous." Set snapped. "I will not harm my Prince. You will have to go through me to touch him or the girl."

"It is you who are ridiculous, my son. You are the Pharaoh's first cousin; if the child dies, you are Pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt."

"That presumes there's a country to rule." Set pointed out logically. "And if I don't go, now, then Atem's sacrifice might be pointless. I can't let his son - my second cousin, according to you - be killed. Get out of my way. I don't know what you're trying to pull, but you're not my father. Now move!"

"No." The old priest pulled aside his lock of white hair, uncovering the Millennium Eye. "You will be Pharaoh, my son. All it takes is a sacrifice."

A beam of black force leapt from the eye of the mad priest towards the child still cradled in his arms. Set curled protectively around his charge, pulling out the Millennium Rod to defend himself. A shrill cry erupted from behind him and suddenly he was shoved to one side. Seto stared in shock as Kisara took the force of the beam, screaming as the power of the Eye stole her soul. The shriek turned into a deep throated cry of anger as her Ka, a great dragon with white skin and blue eyes, manifested. It opened its mouth and spat forth a ball of white lightening, which encompassed Akunadin, consuming him utterly. Set stared - the whole thing had taken less than a minute.

"Kisara!" He stared at the dragon and at the corpse of his beloved. The Prince began to cry quietly, a pathetic sound that echoed Set's own heart.

:High Priest Set: the dragon spoke in his mind; Kisara's voice. :I will always love you, and I will always be there.:

The dragon began to fade; Set started, realizing suddenly that without her body, the dragon would die as well.

"NO." Rising, suddenly decisive, the High Priest raised the Millennium Rod. "Thank you Kisara. I love you…" With the power of the Rod, he fused her Ba and her Ka. The resulting Ahk, still in the form of the great dragon, he bound into a stone slab, to keep it from passing into the underworld.

Then he fell to his knees next to her corpse and wept.

A thundering detonation made the remnants of the palace shake around him, forcing the priest to abandon his grief. He ran with the child, finally emerging at the top of the cliff Atem's palace had been built into . Far below he felt the swirling of Shadow Magic as Bakura, leading a swarm of creatures, mounted his final attack on the Pharaoh, who stood alone, ready to meet him. He could see the flash of gold as Atem called upon the power of his item. Raising the glowing Puzzle over his head, Set almost thought he saw the Pharaoh smile before he shattered it.

Every last monster in Bakura's army vanished, including his personal Ka, Diabound. The thief stared in shock as the remnants of the Pharaoh's bodyguard emerged from the ruins and stabbed him to death. As his blood poured over it, the Millennium Ring gave one last feeble flicker. The Shadow Magic, almost overwhelming in it's intensity before, vanished from Set's senses. He would have pulled out the Rod and tried to use it, but he knew it would be a vain effort. Atem had sealed the magic and the items' power, until someone could reassemble the infinitely complex Puzzle, a task which might take decades.

Picking his way back down the cliff face to the palace, Set finally arrived at Atem's side. The Pharaoh lay motionless, a small smirk still on his face, surrounded by the pieces of the Puzzle. It was obvious now whom Atem had decided to use as the sacrifice. Set rocked the Prince - now Pharaoh - in his arm and stared down at Atem's mortal remains.

"You never could stand to lose, could you?" he murmured softly.

Seto screamed Kisara's name, jerking Yugi out of his rage as effectively as a bucket of cold water. Utter despair laced Seto's voice. Mokuba shot Yugi a look of utter disgust before going to his now weeping niisan. Everybody else stared at either Yugi or Seto. Abruptly dropping his grip on Seto and the rod, Yugi turned and ran. Making it to the bathroom he locked the door before dropping to his hands and knees on the cold tiles. Tears dripped from his eyes- a wail of despair built in his chest.

What is wrong with me? he screamed silently. What is happening to me?

He stared at his slightly glowing flesh, thoughts a litany of accusation. I…I deliberately hurt Seto-kun. I know he doesn't want to accept his connection to the Rod and to the ancient past, but I made him do it anyway. I am… he hugged himself tight, pulling his body in as close as he could as thought to shield himself from…himself. I am no kind of friend. All I ever do is hurt people. He remembered Anzu's reaction when he kissed her, and felt his heart clench painfully. I'm selfish and greedy and… Nails dug into flesh, blood welling up. Evil. I'm evil, this is wrong. I can't hurt others just to bring back my yami. But the damage was done. Anzu-chan probably hates me now, and Seto-kun, and Mokuba-chan; all of them. He remembered the expressions on the faces of Jounouchi, Honda, Bakura and Marik. Horrified pity.

I should just drown myself and be done with it. Yugi rocked back and forth on the tiles, no longer feeling the cold on his knees. Just the pain that ate him up from within, washing out all other sensation. He deliberately raked his nails down his arms, drawing welts. No pain, nothing. The broken edges of his soul slashed at his mind. Atem's probably dead; I'm just operating on a delusional hope, and getting the others involved because I don't want to be alone. The glow in his flesh was getting brighter, the burning sensation returning to his blood. He felt the tears evaporating from his cheeks.

The decision came. "That's what I'll do." Closing his eyes, Yugi surrendered to the power of the Light within him. He couldn't control it, and didn't even try. Instead he fed it with his helpless rage and despair. Physical pain replaced emotional as the power began to consume him from within. He welcomed it with open arms - after all, it's no more than I deserve. With that last thought he collapsed on the tiles bonelessly.

Jounouchi, Honda and Bakura had followed Yugi as he fled, too late to stop him from locking the bathroom door. Jounouchi knocked on it, but there was no reply from the small teen inside. Honda exchanged a look with the blond. They had both seen the look on Yugi's face when he had run for it.

"You don't think he would…" Jounouchi began when Bakura suddenly gasped.

"No! Yugi-kun!" He looked at the other two. Like Yugi, he too had begun to glow, but gently. "He's dying! Get that door open!"

"On three." Jounouchi snapped, ready to shoulder-block the door. Honda stood beside him, poised.

"Three!" they snapped together, slamming into the flimsy wood. The pair stumbled back out of the bathroom, which had become a raging inferno. Yellow flames licked at the walls and room, while the tile floor cracked apart with sharp detonation. At its centre lay Yugi, eyes closed. His body seemed to be the source of the fire.

Fearlessly, Bakura walked into the conflagration. His pale glow brightened, mingling with the golden glimmering of the Millennium Ring but still soft and silvery. He vanished into the fire and returned a moment later, carrying Yugi's unconscious form. His white mane of hair flew upwards in the flame-wrought breezes; for a moment he uncannily resembled his yami. But on his face was an expression of both inhuman determination and compassion. Yugi's fire still wreathed around them, but didn't seem to harm the white-haired teen.

Just for an instant, both Jounouchi and Honda thought they saw, superimposed over Bakura, the image of a bearded young man with a silver crescent on his brow and a white disc floating over him.

"The fire will not hurt you if you seek to help." Bakura said, holding Yugi tightly. "Help me bring him back."

Tenuously, Jounouchi and Honda approached, wincing as the yellow flames tasted their flesh, heating but not burning. Bakura placed Yugi down on the floor and held out his hands, mutely ordering them to do the same. The three formed a circle, though Jounouchi and Honda only touched fingertips, lest someone walk in and see them holding hands.

Bakura began to chant in a language that they didn't understand; the Millennium Ring glowed and shadows emerged from it, wrapping around the flames, battling for dominance.

"Yugi-kun." Jounouchi murmured. "Come on, man."

"Don't die, Yugi-kun." Honda said softly. "Don't give up."

Suddenly the flames died - as did the shadows from the Ring and the glow around Bakura. The white-haired teen collapsed. Jounouchi and Honda just stared in shock for a moment, at the downed Bakura and the naked form of Yugi. Jounouchi pulled off his shirt, wrapping it around Yugi before lifting him off the floor. He hung limply, far too light for his size. Honda scooped up Bakura, but before he could move the chocolate brown eyes opened. Them they opened wider when he realized Honda was holding him gently in his arms.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You did some kind of funky magic with the Millennium Ring."

"Oh my. Did I really?" Bakura blinked, shaking his head. "Um, Honda?"

"Hai?"

"Could you put me down now, please?"

Footnotes

The language of the Hebrews who lived in Egypt at this time.

__

The Ancient Egyptians believed that the soul was made from 2 parts: the Ba and the Ka. For YuGiOh, the Ka is considered the 'shape' of the soul and the Ba is the power behind it. The reason Dark Magician and Blue Eyes White Dragon are so powerful is that at the moment of their death, their Ba was sealed with their Ka, giving them an independent 'power source' outside of the energy of the caster. This combination soul was called the Ahk. With the Shadow and the Name, it provided the five parts of the human personality.

Well, that's it for this chapter. Hope you all like it.

Please R&R, kudasai!


	8. Dark Night of the Soul

Okay, songfic warning, people. Also a little bit of fluff (Shonen-ai, Yugi and Atem) but, in deference to FF.Net, nothing explicit.

If you want the explicit version, e-mail me. I'll send it to you.

The song is Dark Night of the Soul, by Loreena McKennitt, based on a poem by St. John of the Cross.

Translation notes:

Kekui neb-heba.w = Dark Master of Games (Ancient Egyptian)

Title used by Duelmonsters for Atem

Hikari no Yugi-sensei = Game Master of Light (Japanese)

Title used by Duelmonsters for Yugi

Other notes: thoughts

:mind speech:

Chapter 8 Dark Night of the Soul

Yugi tossed on his bed, shivering in the grip of nightmare. The room was empty, quiet save for his low murmurs of despair.

In his dream, he knelt by an elaborate tomb, inscribed with the hieroglyphs for Atem. 'He'sdeadhe'sdeadhe'sdead…'

In a corner of the room, beside the remaining Millennium Items, lay his forgotten Magic and Wizards deck. One card in the pile began to glow softly, the light growing and solidifying until it formed into a misty version of the Mystical Elf. Behind her two more images appeared: a young man with light greenish-blond hair, dressed in elaborate armour and carrying a sword; and a woman in long robes of blue, a cloak of green and a headdress of bright red atop blue hair. Neo the Magic Swordsman and the Lady of Faith, both also spellcasters of Light

The Elf floated over to the hikari, a look of concern on her face. Despair had it's claws deep in her master, and from the sounds of his words he feared his yami was dead. The strange demon at the heart of all this could not be allowed to triumph.

"Lady, will you calm Hikari no Yugi-sensei?" the elf asked the other female Duelmonster, who nodded and held her hands before her in a prayerful mode, chanting a string of syllables under her breath. Almost immediately Yugi settled as the Lady of Faith spun her calming magic.

Then the elven maiden turned to Neo. "Please send a message to the Magician of Dark Chaos. Stand ready for the spell link."

"Aye, milady." Neo's fierce blue eyes twinkled as he sketched a half-bow. Rising, he cupped his hands and chanted a spell under his breath. A tiny mote of light hovered above his palms, then vanished.

Standing next to the sleeping Kekui neb-heba.w, the Magician of Black Chaos saw a wisp of light in the darkness. It drifted over to the mage and settled on his staff; the words of the Mystical Elf rang in his mind. So, she had been able to find their other master.

Raising his staff above his head, he closed his eyes and sent a summons into the Shadow Realm.

A moment later a portal opened and two figures stepped through. One was in the all-purple robes of the Dark Magician, sometime known by his human name of Maahado. Beside him skipped his wide-eyed chibi apprentice, Mana the Dark Magician Girl, dressed in a skimpy blue dress and a pointy hat much like her master's. Her blonde hair fluttered as she greeted the Magician of Black Chaos with a hug.

"We are here for serious business, Mana." the Dark Magician admonished.

"Oh, don't be so fussy." the girl laughed. She looked down at the Pharaoh and smiled. "I'm so glad he and Yugi-chan found each other."

"Mana!"

"What? I know Yugi-chan wouldn't mind me calling him that. He's soo cute. And funny, especially around Anzu-chan!"

Maahado looked like he was about as close as a spirit could come to apoplexy. "Do you have no respect, girl?" he whacked her gently on the head with his staff. "I can't believe that an apprentice of mine is so…so…"

Mana blinked wide-eyed at him, the same puppy-dog eyes Yugi used on Atem. And I would have thought he taught her the trick, but she used to do that in Ancient Egypt too. He sighed, giving in.

To the surprise of both, the Magician of Black Chaos started to laugh.

"It's time." he said, reigning in his mirth. "The Mystical Elf is ready."

Both other magicians nodded, turning serious in turn, though Mana paused to gently pat Atem's hair as they surround him. Raising their staffs above their heads, they focused the dark magic all three controlled, waiting,

Clasping her hands in front of her, Neo holding one shoulder while the Lady of Faith held the other, the Mystical Elf began to sing.

The chant of the Lady of Faith had calmed him; Yugi still knelt by Atem's tomb, but the endless litany had ceased, leaving an odd calm behind. Golden music whispered through his mind; the tomb dissolved as the haunting tune wrapped itself around him. He shivered as it pulled him, helpless in its grasp, into another place.

Upon a darkened night

The flame of love was burning in my breast

And by a lantern bright

I fled my house while all in quiet rest.

He found himself in a strange place; after a moment he recognized it with a pang in his heart. Atem's soul room, the winding, confusing stairs and doors that led to rooms filled with traps. A single torch flame flickered above his head.

He was dressed in strange clothes; white silk shirt that hung open to where it tucked into flowing pants of creamy rayon, tied tight at the bottom. Slip-on shoes covered his feet, and heavy ornaments hung from his ears.

Shrouded by the night

And by the secret stair I quickly fled

The veil concealed my eyes

While all within lay quiet as the dead.

The music faded, quiet but not gone, as he felt an urge to walk. The stairs at his feet looked good enough; as he walked, he felt that urge grow stronger. The light faded until only the dark remained, but he felt no fear or unease now. The night seemed to whisper in his ears, shrouding him and guiding him, making sure he didn't fall. Sightlessly he walked the maze of his lover's heart until he reached a door. Yugi opened it with a touch.

Upon that misty night

In secrecy beyond such mortal sight

Without a guide or light

Than that which burned so deeply in my heart.

The far side was filled with a dark mist. The music rose again, urging him on. He stepped inside the room, leaving the shadows behind. Where the Millennium Puzzle should have hung over his heart a reddish glow emerged, swiftly turning orange and yellow until he walked surrounded by an aura of bright flame.

That fire t'was led me on

And shone more bright than of the midday sun

To where he waited still

It was a place where no one else could come.

The fire swirled around him, and Yugi followed where it pointed, moving more quickly now. He still didn't know what he would find, but he knew it was important. Vital.

The mists parted to show a strange and beautiful garden. Exotic plants he couldn't name bloomed in the twilight, scenting the air. He walked on grass now; the flame had died, leaving only the twilight to guide his way.

Yugi walked through the garden of delights, savoring the sights and scents as he allowed his feet to carry him to where he had to go. Finally he turned a corner to find that which he had been seeking.

Oh night thou was my guide

Oh night more loving than the rising sun

Oh night that joined the lover to the beloved one

Transforming each of them into the other

Atem stood there, glorious in an outfit identical to Yugi's but in midnight blue and black. Something in his heart exploded - love, mixed with happiness. He threw himself, weeping with purest joy, into his lover's arms. Atem met him with a kiss.

:Aibou, koibito, tell me this isn't a dream.:

:If it is, I hope we never wake up…: Yugi laughed and cried and tried to kiss Atem all at the same time. Elation bubbled up in his belly, the sensation making him giddy. He buried himself in his lover's warm embrace, the mental touch he had missed for so long soothing his raw heart and soul.

The kissed turned to caresses, Yugi trying to get as close as he could to Atem. His lover moaned as Yugi started to kiss his neck, working under the loose shirt to lick enticingly at the join between the neck and shoulder. One hand played with his nipple, rubbing it into hardness. Atem moaned again, leaning back to give Yugi greater access.

:I love you. I want to show you.: Yugi murmured through the link.

:I know.: Atem's mental voice was touched with love and joy. :Show me, koibito.: Trust flowed through the link, and a mental embrace that, for the first time opened the Pharaoh's mind completely to his hikari. Yugi saw sorrow and despair, hatred and determination. He saw a tiny spark in the depths of his yami's soul that flared to life in response to his own light. Yugi opened himself totally as well, the tiny bit of darkness in his soul responding to the greater in Atem's.

Yugi felt himself harden, his body responding to his overwhelming emotion. :Atem-koi...:

:Not yet, Yugi-chan.: Atem sent back mischievously. With no more warning than that, the Pharaoh toppled Yugi to the ground, climbing up and pinning him with his back to the soft grass. He leaned down and suckled Yugi's nipple, making the teenager buck under him. Then Atem went higher, teasing at the junction between the neck and shoulder before suddenly biting down, hard. Yugi yelped, then relaxed as Atem's tongue licked at the small wound.

:Sorry, aibou.: Atem apologized with both mind and body. :Got carried away.:

But Yugi was right past coherent thought by that point, love and need merging into burning desire. He licked at the curve of Atem's ear, stroking his sides and back, pulling his lover closer onto him.

Within my pounding heart

Which kept itself entirely for him

He fell into his sleep

Beneath the cedars all my love I gave.

From o'er the fortress walls

The wind would brush his hair against his brow

And with its smoothest hand

Caressed my every sense it would allow

Afterwords, they lay entwined on the green grass, sheltered only by cedar boughs. A light wind, scented with lilies and lilacs, breathed over them as Atem sighed, trying not to fall asleep. Yugi wrapped his arms around his koibito, brushing sweat soaked, dishevelled bangs from Atem's face. He felt his eyes drifting closed as well, and settled himself more comfortably, laying his head on his lover's chest.

I lost myself to him,

And laid my face upon my lover's chest

And care and grief grew dim

As in the mornings mist became the light

Yugi woke to find himself alone with the first light of dawn shining through his bedroom window. He sighed - it had only been a dream after all. Around him all his friends drooped in chairs or lay on futons scattered around the bedroom. Rising, he picked his way past them to the bathroom, heart heavy. The link was still gone, but oddly the dream had helped, leaving a fleeting sensation of hope.

As he walked past the bedroom mirror, he saw a dark spot on his neck. Closer examination proved it to be a bite: Yugi touched it and smiled, his first real smile in days. Perhaps it had been more than a dream, after all.

And care and grief grew dim

As in the mornings mist became the light

There they dimmed among the lilies fair

There they dimmed among the lilies fair.

R&R kudasai! Arigato!


	9. Darkness in Tokyo

Chapter 9, already yet so soon.

Thank you to all. {begin shamless plug} And don't forget to tell your friends about my fics! {end shameless plug}

By the way, I highly recommend a fic by Divey, called And Then There Were Two. Great story: check it out.

DISCLAIMER: See Chapter 1 and Chapter 5

Notes: {_flashbacks_}

thoughts

:mind speech:

-gumi - group. Takes less time to type than 'Yugi and his friends', ne?

Kekui neb-heba.w - Duel Monsters (at least most of them) term of address for Atem.

Hikari No Yugi-sensei - Duel Monsters term of address for Yugi. (with a few exceptions.)

……………………………….........................................................................

Chapter 9 Darkness in Tokyo

The train rumbled through the Japanese countryside, carrying with it Yugi, his friends and all his hopes. The air-space around Toyko had been closed off because of the darkness in the centre of the city, so they had been forced to take the train; however, they had found a big surprise when they reached the station in Domino.

{_Dressed in his 'Battle City' outfit, Kaiba Seto waited by the entrance to the station; in one hand he held his ubiquitous briefcase, in the other the Millennium Rod. Impatience covered his features like a mask._

"_About time." he greeted the Yugi-gumi_. _ "Come on. I've already reserved the train to take us to Tokyo."_}__

None of them had expected Seto to show up, never mind accompany them to Tokyo. Yugi hadn't been able to force himself to speak with the other - his embarrassment and shame had been too great. Not that it really mattered - as soon as everyone had boarded the train, he had vanished.

Yugi played with his Magic and Wizards deck, idly flicking the cards back and forth in a one-handed trick that Atem had taught him. The cards flashed under his fingers, one by one, unnoticed as his mind drifted back to the morning.

{_"This is for you." Yugi handed the golden Millennium Scales to Marik. The platinum blonde teen stared at him, shocked._

"Yugi-kun…I can't accept this. It's not…you can't…" he stuttered.

"Yes I can." Yugi pressed the golden balance scale into his friend's hands. "I - and Atem-koi - are the Guardians of the Items now. Shadi said so, so I can give this to anyone I think is worthy to carry it." Yugi smiled slightly. "I think…that anyone who is destined for one item can use the others - that's why you could use the Rod even though it was always destined for Seto-kun. Why the Tauk worked for me, if only once; and Yami Bakura could use the Eye as well as the Ring. It's the only thing that makes sense to me."

Marik stared at the Scales in his hand. "Why this? Why me?"

"It spoke to me." Yugi blushed. "This morning, when I got up, the Sennen Eye in the middle started to glow, and in my mind I saw an image of you holding the Scales, so…" He shrugged again, as though giving out priceless Egyptian artefacts to reformed psychopaths was an everyday occurrence. "Besides, you don't want to take over the world anymore, do you?"

"No…"

"And Yami Marik has been banished, consumed by the Shadows."

"Yes…"

"Well, then, I don't see the problem." }

__

Yugi smiled to himself. The look of shock and delight on Marik's face had been priceless.

__

He felt someone sit down next to him, and looked up to meet Bakura's face.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

Yugi grimaced. "As well as can be expected, I guess."

"It was a bit of a shock to wake up this morning and find breakfast ready, courtesy of a person who tried to kill himself the night before." His white-haired friend's voice was gentle, not accusatory.

"I like to cook." Yugi answered. "Bakura-kun?"

"Hai?"

"Do you think that dreams…can sometimes be more?" Yugi reached up to touch the bite mark now hidden under his neck-collar.

"I hope so." Bakura murmured, a faraway look in his dark eyes. Absent-mindedly he ran a finger along the edge of the Ring. Abruptly he looked down at Yugi. "You dreamed last night too? Is that why all of a sudden you are acting calmer?"

"Hai." Yugi wished he still had to Puzzle - he felt undressed, uncomfortable without it. He grasped the Tauk in his pocket. It had worked for him and Atem once, during the Battle City finals, so it might work again. One never knew when a glimpse of the future might come in handy. "I dreamed of Atem-koi…" He stopped. The details were just a little too - intimate - to share.

"I dreamed of Yami Bakura." the other teen admitted. Yugi looked up sharply before pulling his mind out of the gutter. He didn't think… there was no way Bakura and his yami could physically have had the same relationship as he and Atem did.

The conversation died, both of them lost in thought.

Bakura took out his own deck , staring at the magic card on the bottom - Change of Heart. Perhaps, just perhaps…he'd dreamed of Yami Bakura, dressed in strange clothes, weeping beside a huge, blackened pit. His scarred face had held such pain that Bakura had wanted to weep himself. The darkness in his yami's heart was so deep and bitter, but with a little magic…

He could feel it now. Despite what he had told the others after he'd pulled Yugi out of the fire, Bakura could remember a little of what had happened. And a single phrase kept running through his mind.

'…_the Left Eye of Horus…'_

He didn't know what it meant, but he knew, deep in his heart, that it would become clear, someday. He looked at he shorter teen beside him and the phrase running through his mind changed.

'_…the Right Eye of Horus…'_

……….…………………….........

At the front of the train, Kaiba Seto glared out the window as thought the innocent countryside was responsible for his current predicament. His briefcase rested at his feet, but he still clung to the Millennium Rod. He shouldn't help Yugi, but with those cursed memories still running through his mind, he knew that all the superstitious claptrap Yugi had spouted was - damnit - nothing less than truth. And if he had really been High Priest to the Pharaoh, then that meant an obligation. How he could feel responsible for an oath he had made three thousand years ago in a past life was beyond him, but the feeling nevertheless remained. He punched the window in frustration, cold glass vibrating against his knuckles. With a sigh he slumped forward. If he was honest with himself, then there was a very good reason why he was helping Yugi and Atem.

_Kisara_. The love his past self had felt for the white-haired girl seemed to have translated into his own heart, bringing with it both a pain and a strength he couldn't have imagined before. Because although he and Kisara could never be together, he was never far from her either. He pulled the Blue Eyes White Dragon out of his pocket and stared at the cardboard, running the forefinger of his other hand over the picture. It didn't do her justice, but then nothing could.

The train rumbled on, headed into destiny.

……………………………….......

Atem woke feeling calm, refreshed, and sweaty. He gently disentangled himself from the furry mound of Kuribohs and stretched. Beside his 'bed' the Magician of Black Chaos waited patiently. Atem stared at the Duelmonster in surprise before putting two and two together.

"My dream." he said, picking up the pile of cloth also waiting beside him. "You had something to do with it?"

"Yes, Kekui neb-heba.w." the Magician replied. "We tried to rejoin what had been severed, but we failed. I beg your forgiveness."

"It's alright." Atem smiled. It was amazing, the kind of changes time and the influence of an innocent hikari could have. Three thousand years ago he'd probably be pitching a royal fit about now. "You tried, and for a little bit at least you succeeded. Thank you."

"It is an honour." By now Atem had struggled into the tight leather clothing and was feeling much more like himself. He ran his hands through his tousled hair, wishing for a brush, then sat down and calmly ate the breakfast someone had kindly left for him. The Kuribohs had rejoined into one, who 'kuued' and snuggled against Atem's leg.

"Thank you as well, Kuriboh." Atem patted the brown furball affectionately.

"Kekui neb-heba.w, we have volunteered to stay and protect you. You cannot afford further injuries - the shadows here are dangerous."

"You and Kuriboh?" Atem asked, wiping his hands on his pants.

"Not alone." The Magician gestured and two more forms appeared out of the ebon air. The Dark Magician bowed to Atem, while his apprentice squealed and glomped him. Her master groaned.

"Hello, Mana." Atem smiled at the girl, who giggled and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Hello, Atem-sama!" Unlike the other duel monsters, Mana the Dark Magician Girl had picked up the Japanese forms of address. Mahaado thwacked her sharply on the head with his staff.

"Manners, Mana."

"Hai, Sensei." she said, rising and helping Atem to his feet. He smiled at all of them.

"Thank you." he said. Pulling out the bag that held his collected pieces of the Millennium Puzzle, he counted them. About halfway, then. Hopefully only one more day and he could get out of this hellhole.

………………………………..............................

"This isn't the Shadow Realm." Yugi ran his fingers over the icy dome of darkness lying over Central Tokyo, wincing as the cold bit into his fingers.

"I know." Bakura said beside him. "I don't know what it is, though."

"The mouth of Yomi."

The strange voice made everyone spin on his or her heel to face the source. An older woman, still handsome despite her years, stood there. Dressed as a _miko, -- _a Shinto Temple Maiden --, she seemed to possess a gravity and power that made one want to bow.

"The mouth of Hell has opened up in the middle of the city. I notice that you are drawn here as well, and that you bear the marks of magic. You two especially." She indicated Yugi and Bakura.

"Miko-sama." Surprisingly, it was Jounouchi who addressed the woman with high respect, bowing. "Can you tell us anything more about this?"

"Hai." She smiled. "This has been opened by a demon of great power; but the source of that power is strange to me. It comes from a different place and a different time." She looked at Yugi. "I know, however, that you are the light to this darkness - the light of the Sun." The smile died as she looked at Bakura. "Remember this, child - the moon has two faces, and without both it is nothing."

"H-hai, Miko-sama."

"Now." she clapped her hands. "I think that you should go inside and confront your destinies. Be warned - what you see may not be real, but it is drawn from the most real place of all - the heart."

Everyone - except Kaiba - thanked the miko for her words. Yugi took a deep breath and led the others inside.

………………………………..................................................

"So the Hikari dares the realms of darkness." Osama Akuma mused. "I think that its time he learned that the dark is indeed something to be frightened of." The demon closed his eyes and held his hands together, chanting.

The shadows responded to his magic, lashing out at the teens as they entered. None dared touch Yugi - he was anethema to them, the essence of Light that they abhorred. But the others held no such protection, and the shadows scattered them like grain. Yomi was infinite in its depth and variety - none of them would ever be seen again.

………………………………....................................................

Finally got this chapter done. Sorry it's late.

Read and review kudasai! Arigato!


	10. White Shadow

Nothing much to say for now. Here's the fic!

DISCLAIMER: See Chapter 1.

A/N: Just to make my life easier, from this chapter on, Bakura Ryou will be referred to as Ryou and Yami Bakura as such.

………………………………..................................................

Chapter 10 - White Shadow

Bakura Ryou had no warning as the shadows latched onto him, icy cold tendrils lashing at his body and mind. The Ring around his neck flared in multicoloured light and they backed off. But when he looked around, he could see no one. He was alone, in the mouth of Hell.

Oh, dear. The white-haired teen fingered the still-glowing Ring around his neck. Well, if I can get this to work, maybe I can find the others. The Ring was supposed to be able to track down the other Millennium Items, but he had never used its power - only Yami Bakura had.

He closed his eyes, ignoring the shadows still swirling around him, and concentrated on the artefact. A strange feeling coursed through his veins as he focussed harder; it was something like the one time he'd gotten drunk, but this euphoria cleared his mind rather than clouding it. His mouth opened as his breathing grew ragged. The image of his dream the night before appeared in his mind's eye.

The world spun dizzyingly. Ryou gasped as the feeling in his body grew overwhelming. Something _snapped_ and he dropped to his knees, drained.

When he opened his eyes, he no longer saw black emptiness. A strange, primitive village lay before him, nestled in the mountains. It looked small, no more than a couple dozen houses, all with squarish construction and flat roofs. Wherever he was now, they must not get much rain. The dry, arid terrain and thin, straggly trees encouraged this observation. He rose, feeling his wobbly legs strengthening, and walked towards the nameless village.

Time seemed to have no meaning here - there was no sun or moon by which to gauge it's passage, and his watch had stopped. So he had no idea how long it took for him to reached the outskirts of that village. He could see people moving around inside. Then the screams began.

Running towards the sound, Ryou stumbled into a scene from nightmare. A bunch of men dressed in white linen skirts and steel armour - soldiers - were herding the people of the village into the town square. Dug into the pounded earth, a huge pit already held the first bodies. As the young man watched in horror, a soldier slit a woman's throat, ignoring the screaming child clinging to her robe. Then he stabbed the child, silencing him, before throwing them both into the pit. A man in long white robes flicked the beads on an abacus, tallying the bodies.

Ryou gulped, his gorge rising. He turned and threw up, breakfast and bile mixing with the grey stone dust. The wet _thunk_ of weapons plunging into human bodies, the smell of blood and human waste, the sounds of the screams, even the cold clinking of the abacus…He tried vainly to block it all out as his body continued to heave.

Finally the sounds ceased. He looked up to find the pit full and the white-robed man placing seven golden items on the pile of corpses.

"Accept my offering, Osiris, Set, Isis. Gods of life and death, hear me. Give me these souls, oh God of Death. Lend me your power, oh God of Chaos. Goddess of Magic, fill these items with power to guide and guard all of your son's kingdom.

"Hear me, Ra! Shine your light on this rite for the good of your land!"

The bodies in the pit burst into black flame. Ryou flinched back as the golden items began to float, absorbing the black fire, turning it to a familiar shadowy substance. In a few moments the bodies were gone, leaving a char-blackened pit and the seven Millennium items. The white-robed man picked the items, packed them carefully away, and left, taking the soldiers with him.

All was silent for a while, then a small figure emerged from between the houses on the far side of the square. All Ryou could make out from here was the dirty mop of white hair and the thin shirt the child wore. He stumbled to the side of the pit, weeping heartbrokenly.

Suddenly Ryou flashed back to his dream. The child…must be his yami. He watched as the child picked up a small knife, fallen on the side of the pit, and brought it up to his face. He brought the blade down from the bottom of his right eye to half-way down his cheek, bright blood welling up. "I swear, by Set and Anubis, the Pharaoh will pay for this." A second cut, across the first. "In my father's name." A third cut, under the second, red blood mingling with clear tears and dripping to the ground. "In my mother's name and my sister's name. The Pharaoh and all his family will die." He dropped the blade and bowed, head to the ground before the pit. "Hear me, o spirits of the dead! Lend me your strength, your hatred, and I will avenge you!"

Dark ghosts rose from the pit - phantoms that reminded Ryou of Yami Marik - spirits born of hate and rage. They churned around the boy, who laughed manically as they dove into him.

Then the boy faded like a ghost himself, and in his place knelt a young man. White hair and red robes, like those worn by desert wanderers. The scar beneath his eye was long healed, but the tears in his eyes were fresh.

"I'm sorry." he whispered to the wind and the dead. "I have failed you. The Pharaoh lives. I could not destroy him." He looked up and met Ryou's eyes; unknowingly the teen had stepped from his concealment.

"Yami?" Ryou faltered. "Bakura-kun? Is that you?"

Yami Bakura shot to his feet, embarrassment and anger chasing themselves across his features.

"What the hell are you doing here, landlord?" He skirted the pit and stomped up to Ryou, who instinctively stepped back.

"I came…" he reviewed the rest of the sentence in his mind and decided to change his response. "I missed you, yami."

Obviously that was the last answer the tomb-robber had expected, as he jerked back for a second before bursting into mocking laughter. "You…missed ME?" he howled. "Gods, that's hilarious, landlord!"

Ryou smiled a little himself. "I'm sorry, but it's true. I did miss you." He tried to continue and couldn't. How do you tell someone that despite the fact that they're an evil bastard, they're a part of your soul and you want them back?

A different voice whispered in his mind. _Perhaps by being honest with him, Ryou._

He hurt me, in order to help Marik win Jounouchi and Anzu's trust.

_But he saved me when the attack of Osiris the God Dragon would have killed me._

"That doesn't explain why you came here in the first place, landlord." Yami Bakura said, controlling himself. "This is a very _special_ place, you know. After that baka Pharaoh defeated me, I was sent here - the Hell of Oathbreakers. So unless you're dead with a broken oath on your soul, you shouldn't be here at all."

"I came to find Atem-kun." the younger man admitted. "With Yugi-kun and the others. But I got separated…" He trailed off at the mounting fury on his yami's scarred face.

"You came here to help _HIM_?" Yami Bakura swung at his light twin, who ducked. "You came to help the _PHARAOH_?"

"Hai!" Ryou dodged a second blow. He stumbled back, one hand behind himself against a wall, the other on the Millennium Ring.

"But you didn't COME FOR _ME_!" Yami Bakura howled his rage to the sky. Ryou stared at the tomb robber's face, at the tears of…betrayal?

"I didn't know!" Still dodging his yami's wild blows, Ryou backed away. "I swear, I thought you were gone back to…I thought you were dead!"

"Of course I'm dead, baka!" His blows were becoming more controlled as he mastered his rage. "That's why I'm in Hell! Why I've been reliving the slaughter of my family over and over and over…" Suddenly he turned and slammed his fist into the wall. Ryou cringed as a bit of brick fell away. That had to have _hurt._

As though he had read Ryou's mind, he murmured. "I can't feel it, you know." His tone was almost conversational. "I can't feel anything. My body is a shell, a sham. All I feel is inside - and I can't get it out. No matter what I do. All the tears I've shed, all the screams, nothing works. I even tried to kill myself."

"Bakura-kun…" Ryou fought an urge to wrap an arm around his yami's shoulders. "I'm sorry. If I had known, I would have come for you."

Yami Bakura just gave him a disbelieving snort. "Right." He turned away from his light twin. "Just go away, landlord. Get out of here."

"No." Standing up straighter, he walked right up to his yami's back, which had stiffened at the word. "Mou hitori no boku…"

"What did you call me?"

"Mou hitori no boku. You are my other self, my yami, Bakura-kun. I've been…" he paused, fighting for words. "I've been nothing but half a soul without you. A white shadow."

"You think that a few words will help?" Yami Bakura snorted again. "You little shit. All you ever were to me was a vessel, something to help me with my plans."

Ryou flinched at the cold in his yami's voice. "Really? Is that all I ever was? Then why did you save me at Battle City?"

"I still needed you."

"Maybe you need me now."

That made the man spin, face to face with his former vessel. "I don't need you, you little weakling. You still think you can be my 'hikari'? My light self? Ha! You are a pathetic nothing, little white shadow."

"Then you are nothing as well."

Yami Bakura slapped him. Ryou flinched, but didn't back down even as he wiped blood from a split lip. "You are me, Bakura. We share the same face, the same name. If you would just let me, I would share your pain as well." He touched the scars beneath the other's eye. A tender, intimate gesture with nothing sexual implied. "Please. I want to help you. After all, I am you as well."

His yami's eyes were wide and shocked, as though that touch had been a slap. "You…you can't help me…nothing…you…" he trailed off, words failing.

:Yes I can.: That strange feeling was back. Ryou sighed as he reached out with his mind, caressing his yami's thoughts, tears leaking at the pain he felt there. So much pain, carried for so long; a deep and bitter wound.

Cold swept through him and his eyes flew open. Spirits from the pit rose again, looping around Yami Bakura and ripping him away from his hikari.

"You will not have him." the spirits screamed, their voices chorusing. "He broke his vows to us. He is ours forever."

"No." Ryou closed his eyes and placed his hands on either side of the Millennium Ring. "He is my yami, and I want him back." Power was mounting inside him. He heard Yami Bakura scream in pain; ignoring it, he concentrated harder. He knew the Ring could move souls, and there was only one place that his yami could be safe from his torment.

When he opened his eyes again he was glowing, a cool white light, like the moon…

{_Remember child - the moon has two faces, and without both it is nothing._} The words of the miko echoed in his mind.

When he spoke, he barely recognized the voice as his own. "Put him down. Bakura-kun is mou hitori no boku - you shall NOT have him." He hissed as the spikes of the Ring buried themselves in the flesh of his chest, willingly paying the blood-price for the corrupted item's full power.

He raised his hands and Light erupted from his palms.

The spirits screeched as the Light slashed through them. Yami Bakura dropped halfway into the pit, but tendrils split off, catching the dark spirit and reeling him in towards his hikari. The Ring flared again as Ryou pulled his yami back into himself, feeling complete again.

:Landlord?: Yami Bakura sounded a little fuzzy.

:Hai, Bakura-kun.: Ryou answered softly, a gentle smile on his face. The spirits wailed impotently, but didn't dare approach. :I'm glad you're back with me, yami.: He walked away from the dead village, which shifted into motes of dust and vanished. Ryou concentrated on the Ring for a second - it glowed and pointed to his left. He set off in the indicated direction, sure that he would find Yugi-kun sooner or later.

A long time passed in silence; then Ryou heard a whisper in his mind.

:I'm glad to be back…hikari.:


	11. Hatred Never Dies

Next chapter in the apparently unending saga. At this point, it's probably going to be 20 chapters, at least. Thanks to everyone reading this!

:thought speak:

thoughts not spoken

["Spoken Ancient Egyptian."]

Ore-Sama - one word for king. Also a very arrogant way to refer to ones self in Japanese.

……………………………….....................................................................................

Chapter 11 - Hatred Does Not Die

Marik hissed as the cold tendrils of shadow wrapped around him, throwing him to another place. He tried not to empty his stomach as he tumbled without 'up' or 'down' as a reference until he 'landed'. The world stilled around him, his hands still clutching helplessly at the Millennium Scales as though they could save him.

When he managed to get a grip on his roiling stomach, Marik looked around at the nothingness. Black and purple as far as the eye could see - even the 'ground' he sat upon was invisible. He closed his eyes and took two deep breaths.

Where am I? Perhaps that's the wrong question. If this is some kind of Duat, then 'where' is meaningless. It certainly did not resemble any of the 'hells' he knew of - neither Duat, the Ancient Egyptian underworld he had grown up with nor the 'Hell' of fire and brimstone the Christians and Muslims preached.

The eye on the Scale began to glow softly. Marik looked down at the item, wondering what had caused it to activate. Although he knew perhaps as much about the Millennium Items as any living person did, much had been lost in the three millennia since they had been used - and only the Pharaoh and the Tomb Robber might know everything of how to use them. He knew the Scales were modeled after the Scale of the Underworld, that weighed a man's heart against the feather of Ma'at, but beyond that, he knew little.

Marik, stop babbling to yourself, idiot, and get on your feet! You have to find the others! He managed to stop the whirlwind of thought – it wasn't easy – and climbed to his feet. He couldn't see the ground, which made walking difficult, but eventually he grew used to it and made progress. The eye on the Scales glowed brighter or dimmer depending on the direction he traveled, so he followed the path of the brightest light. Perhaps that would bring him in contact with one of the others who held a Millennium Item.

:No, pretty. It has led you back to me.: The voice that insinuated itself into his mind was very familiar, causing the Egyptian to freeze in shock. It couldn't be…he was gone! Destroyed in the Shadow Realm!

:Ore-sama cannot be destroyed, little one.: the voice of his yami, the dark spirit he had created from rage and hate, whispered to him. :Ore-sama has been waiting for you, pretty light.:

"No…" Marik spun around, holding the Scales before him like a shield, trying to find the source of the voice. It couldn't be, it just couldn't. Marik refused to accept that his dark side was there, calling to him. Yet it sounded so real, so…

:Light.: Yami Marik whispered softly in his mind, the voice becoming stronger and more clear. :Yes, come to Ore-sama.:

Cold shadows wrapped around his body, encasing him. Marik struggled futilely; his limbs grew numb. "NO! Get away from me! I destroyed you - I beat you…"

:The game is not over, pretty. It is never over, until I win.: The cold seeped from his body to his mind - he hung limply in the shadows grasp, struggling mentally against he strengthening presence around him. :You lost Ra, pretty. You lost the Rod. Silly hikari - did you really think that the Pharaoh would reward you for your 'service'?: The mental took on a hint of derision and a lot of insanity. :Ore-sama is the one meant to rule, little light.:

"No." Marik moaned. Invisible fingers stroked his mind; his eyes widened as he felt his mental defences beginning to lower under their touch. "NO!"

:Yes.:

:NO!: He struck back mentally against his yami, struck with hatred and intent to destroy…and so fell into Yami Marik's trap.

The moment their emotions matched, the dark spirit slipped back into his former body with a laugh of triumph. There was no Rashid here - Marik had no hope of defeating him now. Here, the Shadows were strong - they fed his hate and his desire for domination. He felt the weak struggles of his hikari deep inside his mind and smirked at the other's feeble efforts.

The Shadows released him and the yami stretched luxuriously. It felt good to be back in a physical form, no longer a helpless spirit. For a moment he considered banishing Marik's puny mind into the shadows, but dismissed the thought. The boy had a tendency to show up at the worst time and where he was least expected. It would be wiser to keep a close eye on him. Besides, the taste of his despair was too heady a treat to give up.

Peeking into his other half's memories, Yami Marik smiled to himself. It appeared that most of the Items were in this particular hell with him; even better, the Pharaoh was here somewhere, and separate from _his_ hikari.

Yami Marik laughed maniacally. He couldn't have set it up better if he'd planned the whole thing. "Let the Hunt begin!"

……………………………….................................................................................

Kaiba Seto walked thought the darkness, no fear showing on his features. He would die before he gave any watching creature the satisfaction of seeing his discomfiture at being separated from everyone else. He held his briefcase like a shield and the Millennium Rod clenched tightly in his other hand. The Eye on the item glowed very slightly, illuminating the area around him. Not that there was much of anything to see.

Movement whispered in the shadows; Kaiba turned, Rod at the ready - instinct from another life. He growled to himself but didn't take the motion back - indecision like that indicated weakness. The figure in the shadows hissed, vanishing, reappearing. It couldn't be human - a Duelmonster? No…they were trapped spirits, but this…

The figure leapt from the darkness. Seto brought his briefcase around, smashing it in the side of the head; it toppled to the indistinct ground.

Wide shoulders, fangs, wild black hair - it looked almost human, despite the hissing sounds it made and the black blood that flowed from its lips. Faster than a cat it regained its feet and lunged again.

The Eye on the Rod flared to life and Seto gasped as its magic flowed through him again. The creature flew backwards as though hit by a giant hand; it vanished in the dark. The shadows around him moved disconcertingly.

"Nicely done. I see you have taken to the Rod, Kaiba Seto." The voice that wafted mockingly out of the shadows teased him with its familiarity. The CEO turned to find Marik walking out of the shadows, holding up his Millennium Scales. "However, I want it back now."

"Marik." Seto frowned. The Egyptian boy didn't look quite right… Then to his utter astonishment, Marik's face seemed to warp and twist before returning to normal, and his hair stood on end as thought he had been hit by a lightening bolt.

"It's Ore-sama's Rod, silly mortal. Ore-sama's pretty Rod…" Seto stared as Marik trailed off into insane laughter.

"Time to die, Kaiba." Yami Marik grinned.

………………………………................................................................

Kaiba was a good duelist, but he had not yet freed his mind enough to duel properly in the Shadow Realm. Yami Marik chuckled. He had even put away the Millennium Rod and pulled out his Duel Disk!

The insane spirit smirked as his monster destroyed Kaiba's pitiful dragon, weakening the other further. He didn't even seem to know that in the Shadow Realm, a monster's strength depended less on the stars or the attack points and more on his master's will.

Kaiba panted, sweat falling down his forehead and into his eyes. Yami Marik savoured the signs of the mortal's defeat - he longed to lick the blood and sweat from Kaiba's face, to taste that despair. He, Marik, wasn't even using his cards - just calling demons from the depth of Yomi. While that technique used more power, it had the benefit of calling monsters more horrible than Kaiba had ever faced. And it made it harder for the mortal to fool himself into thinking that it wasn't real.

The yami blasted aside the last of Seto's defences, launching his attack on the helpless teenager.

Suddenly a creature appeared from nowhere and blocked the attack. Kaiba jerked in shock and Yami Marik growled as the Red-Eyes Black Dragon reared up and roared. That monster could only mean one thing.

A young man with tousled blonde hair stepped out of the shadows to stand beside Kaiba. Yami Marik made a feral sound in the back of his throat, his hands clenching reflexively. Jounouchi Katsuya.

He would never admit it to any living soul, but Jounouchi scared him, if only a little. The teenager had survived the attack of Ra;: he had almost won that duel; even after actually dying of shock, he'd had the will to come back! No mortal should have been able to do that.

"Hey, Dragonsbreath, what's happening?" the brat asked. Kaiba glared at his obviously unwanted rescuer.

Two on one odds were not to Yami Marik's taste. He pulled the shadows around himself and vanished, abandoning his prey. For now.

………………………………................................................................

Jounouchi helped Seto to his feet - the taller boy snatched his arm from the blond's grasp.

"Who asked you to step in, mutt?" Seto snarled. "I could have handled him."

"Sure, whatever." He reached over and wiped a spot of blood off the white vest trench the other wore. "This from a nosebleed, hotshot?" Seto just stared. He reached up and touched his face - three fine lines bled across his cheek, where his monster had been hit.

"I don't know what you thought when you watched me duel Marik, Seto-kun, but I wasn't acting up there. It _hurt_ when my monsters got hit. Now I don't know if it's the Shadow Realm or just Marik, but you have to be prepared to get hurt when you duel him."

Jounouchi paused. "Why were you duelling him in the first place?"

"Because." Seto triggered his Duel Disk into Off position. "Marik has gone off the deep end again."

"Oh, shit." As they spoke, two more monsters appeared out of the shadows. The Flame Swordsman stepped to the blond teen's left side, and Gierfreid the Iron Knight appeared on the other.

"There isn't a game going on, mutt. You can turn…" Seto trailed off as he stared at the resounding lack of Duel Disk on Jounouchi's arm. "How?"

"Seto-san, I would like you to meet _my_ guardian monsters."

……………………………….............................................................................

Mana the Dark Magician Girl tapped her fingers on her staff in an uncharacteristic gesture of nervousness. Her eyes darted from the darkness around them to the features of her lord and back again, deliberately trying not to stare. She was worried about Atem-sama, greatly worried.

He had been fine that morning, even laughing a little, when she and the other two Dark Magicians had set out, escorting him through the maze. Between the three of them and the power of Atem-sama's spells as backup, they had managed to recover most of the remaining pieces of the Puzzle.

Then it had happened. Despite everything, a single monster had gotten behind them all and attacked Atem-sama directly. She had gotten it off of him fast enough, but not before it had drawn blood. Before she could do or say anything, she found out exactly where those strange silver scars had come from. The spectacle of shadows feeding on the blood of her master had sent shivers up her spine. More chilling were the moans of what sounded like pleasure escaping him while they did.

Now he walked quietly between the three of them, not speaking. Her teacher Mahaado and the Magician of Black Chaos didn't seem to notice any difference - maybe it was just her imagination; the small smirk, the wildness behind his eyes. He wasn't really ready to burst into maniacal laughter - right?

The next attack came - Mana barely paid it mind. The other two could handle it just fine. She was keeping a close eye on Atem-sama's back.

Her foresight paid off. A monster crept up behind Atem-sama, then another and a third. She flew down and placed herself between the creatures and their prey.

Concentrating, Mana called on the magic her master had taught her in Egypt three millennia ago. A deep voice murmured behind her.

"Book of Secret Arts." Atem-sama gestured and the book appeared before her, it's touch boosting her power. She attacked, raw dark magic slicing through the creatures like so much salami before being absorbed by the maze. Bright red blood splattered all over the place. Wrinkling her nose delicately in disgust, Mana spelled it off herself and her clothes. She turned to render the same service to Atem-sama and froze.

He was staring at his hands as though he had never seen them before, crimson eyes glazed. For a moment his features went masklike as shadow-wisps writhed around him. Then his eyes half-closed and a manic grin twisted his lips. Slowly, and with evident relish, the Pharaoh licked the blood from his hands, a look of sensuous pleasure on his face.

Under the circumstances, Mana was just as glad that, in her current incarnation as a Duelmonster, she didn't eat. Her stomach lurched enough at the sight - with food, she might just have thrown up. This was so far past _wrong._ And it scared her. What had happened to Atem-sama?

She made sure to look away before he finished. Her instincts said that letting him know she had been watching might just get her summarily dismissed - if she was _really_ lucky.

["Is something amiss, Mana?"] he asked in ancient Egyptian.

["No, my lord."] she answered softly. ["Were you injured?"]

["I was not. Thank you, Mana."] His tone was so calm, so controlled. His expression had returned to his normal 'game face', but a glint of madness still lurked in the backs of his eyes. He caught her gaze and held it for a moment before turning to glance at the other two magicians, who had just finished off the last of the monsters. Walking between them, Atem gathered up a glittering piece of the Puzzle from the maze floor and added it to his collection.

As they walked towards their next challenge, Maahado drifted back to walk beside her.

:What's wrong, apprentice?: he asked mentally. :You look unwell.:

:The Pharaoh - there is something wrong with his mind.: she answered, her eye not leaving Atem's back. :After that last attack…:

:You saw as well.: the Dark Magician nodded. :Listen closely, Mana. We must keep the Pharaoh as far away from the fighting as we can. The Magician of Black Chaos fears for our master's sanity if he should gain any more of those scars. And if he goes insane, what will happen? His shadow magic is growing; he has the power to affect the minds of mortals. If he loses control of it, he might well drown the world in madness.:

:But how will we do that? Lord Atem never was the type to stand back and let others fight for him.: Mana glanced quickly up at her teacher.

Mahaado placed a hand on her shoulder. :Keep close to his side, apprentice. We will guard him from danger. You must guard him from himself.:

:Yes, master.:

………………………………............................................................................

That's it for this chapter. Thanks for reading. If you feel like it, please review! Lets me know what I'm doing right or wrong. I also take suggestions. I may not use them, but they are always welcome.


	12. HalfTruths

Sorry for the wait. I've had too many other things on my plate. Anyhow, here's Chapter 12.

Disclaimer: Yes, as a matter of fact I am insane.

Yami SSF: Wrong one, hikari.

Oh, sorry. I don't own YuGiOh.

thoughts

:Mindspeech:

Mou hitori no watashi: Another me, girl's version. According to a friend of mine who speaks Japanese, girls don't use 'boku', they use the formal 'watashi' for I. (Arigato, Jacob-sensei)

"Beware of the half truth. You may have gotten hold of the wrong half." Unknown

"Darkness cannot stand against the light." - Hideaway, movie version.

Chapter 12 - Half-Truths.

Stone walls rose to either side, enclosing the teenage girl shivering in their grasp. The bit of sky overhead only showed black and purple swirls, like some demented fog. "I remember this place." Anzu shuddered at the memories of all the horrific duels she had witnessed. "I know that this is not good - and I wish the others were here." She had read somewhere that true Hell was being alone - she could believe it. She shivered every time a cold mist wafted across her bare arms or the exposed skin of her belly. Silently she cursed the style of clothes she wore – they might be fashionable, but in this place she only felt more exposed.

The darkness pressed closer around her form as she walked aimlessly through the confusing maze of stone, hoping against hope that she might run across one of the others. The silence was deafening; only the sound of her own heartbeat echoed in her ears.

The cold bit into her very bones now - her breath began to mist with each exhale. Keep going, Anzu - the bonds of friendship you made with the others will guide you to them…

Suddenly sharp laughter echoed all around. The girl started, looking around herself wildly for the source. The shadows swirled as a figure stepped out of the night.

"Silly child," it hissed. Dressed in a midnight blue cloak and robes, with a hood drawn over the face to hide it, only her voice identified her gender. "Silly, silly child. Do you think that with the Puzzle destroyed, that will ever happen?"

"What are you talking about?" Anzu stared at the figure. "I know I'll find them somehow…"

"Search your heart, child." the figure spoke silkily, confidently. "The bond was forged with the power of the Millennium Puzzle, and when it was shattered so too was the fragile bond forged with your companions."

"What?"

"Did you not think it odd that you, who have no magical abilities, could grant strength to the Pharaoh and his hikari? Be assured, you did do that - but it was only through the power of the Puzzle that it was possible. It's greatest power is unity - the ability to link things or people together." The figure took a step closer. "So of course, the Pharaoh would have seen to it that Yugi made lots of friends.

"Pegasus thought to increase the power of his Eye by offering souls to the Shadows. Bakura used the tainted Ring to enslave souls for his amusement. But the Pharaoh knew that he needed to have many others around, to increase his own power. So he used his gifts - subtly, of course - to draw others to his hikari, strengthening the Light and using the mystery of his own darkness to draw you all close. He draws on you for his power, silly girl. Do you want to know what they really think of you?"

"Who are you? Why should I believe a creature of the night?" Anzu drew back further, preparing to run.

:Because the shadows do not lie.: The voice whispered in her mind. The figure drew back it's hood; Anzu gasped in shock. Her own face stared back at her. :We all have a dark side, Mazaki Anzu. I am your yami, your dark side. I have come to protect you from those who would use you for their own ends.:

"No…you're lying. I don't have any power - nor do I carry a Millennium Item. You must be lying - about this and about Atem and Yugi."

:Pegasus bore the Eye, but did not possess a yami. The two are not born of each other. Marik's darkness was born of his own heart, Anzu - as I am of yours. I know every jealous thought, every whispered curse. The darkness spawned me; but I am born of you, hikari, and I will never let you go.:

The girl bolted. She had run no more than two steps when her 'yami' caught up, grasping her by the arms. The creature's touch was colder than a desert night, numbing her flesh. :Do not run from me, mou hitori no watashi. We will be one, and you will never have to fear aloneness again…: The creature smiled at her, baring white teeth. The cold raced through her body, leaving her numb as her arms began to flowing into the icy hands that held her.

Then darkness claimed her mind as a voice whispered :Sleep, Anzu-chan. Sleep deep and dream for me.:

……………………………….....................................................................................

A voice filled with panic caught at Mana's attention as her master passed a junction in the maze. He too stopped, staring down the hallway.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hai."

"Come." Atem raced down the passage, Mana flying at his heels. The walls behind them shifted, leaving Maahaado and Magician of Black Chaos behind.

They found their quarry quickly; Anzu, half-collapsed on the floor, a faceless thing in robes bent over her, seemingly absorbing the girl into itself.

"Sword of Dark Destruction!" Atem snapped, holding out a hand. The wickedly curved magical blade appeared - before the mage could object, Atem swung, decapitating the creature with a swift stroke. Black demon blood fountained from the severed neck, bathing both the Pharaoh and Anzu. With a slithering sound, the girl slid free of the demon and fell to the cold stone floor.

Mana picked up the prone form, cradling the girl to her chest.

"Is she alright?" Atem asked quietly - a glance showed the true concern in his eyes. Despite the expression, he was absently licking the blood from the back of his sword hand.

"I think so, Atem-sama." Mana replied softly. She remembered Anzu - the dark-haired girl was nearly always cheering for her masters when they battled. "Just tired - the demon was draining her energy."

Atem gestured and the shadows wrapped around them for a moment. When they dispersed, the blood was gone from their forms, as was the body of the demon.

"Bring her." Atem said shortly. He turned to find the way back blocked; his eyes narrowed. "Mana?"

"Hai, Atem-sama?"

"Did you block our way back?"

It was a silly question, but Mana knew better than to tell him that. "Iie, Atem-sama. It closed behind us. On it's own."

"I see." Closing his eyes, Atem took a deep breath - around him the shadows moved disquietingly. His eyes snapped open and the third eye of power appeared on his forehead. Mana clutched Anzu closer as dark power swirled around him.

"Begone!" He gestured; the rock dissolved as his magic hit it. Mana shivered as the backwash flowed over the both of them. She knew he was strong - but not this powerful…

"Mana?"

"H…hai, Atem-sama?"

"Take Anzu outside of this place, back to the real world. My aibou would be upset if anything were to happen to her. You can do that?"

"Hai, Atem-sama." Damn, damn, damn… He was sending her away. This was no good at all. How could she protect him if she wasn't there? But at the same time, disobeying him might have…unfortunate consequences.

"Then do so, and wait there. Protect her. If anything should happen to harm her…" He turned to look back at her, and Mana trembled at the look in his blood-red eyes.

"As you command, my lord Pharaoh."

………………………………................................................................................

Honda Hiroto woke to the strangest sight. He was back in the real world, and above him hovered…the Dark Magician Girl?

"Honda-san?" The Duelmonster spoke softly, her voice light and yet strangely grave. "Are you well?"

"Yeah." He tried to rise - Dark Magician Girl helped him to his feet. "What are you…how…"

"Atem-sama sent me here with Anzu-chan." The Duelmonster gestured to her feet where Anzu lay, slackly unconscious.

"Is she all right?"

"Hai. Just drained. How did you get out, Honda-san?"

"That was me." Another monster walked out of the blackness, this one carrying a gun; his face was half-covered with a mask of metal, his chest was bare and he wore camo print pants and combat boots. "I found you inside, Honda-sama. I am not strong enough to fight the creatures in this place, so I pulled you out instead."

The teenager thought he would surely lose his jaw. "How can you be…"

"Real?" The Duelmonster, known as the Cyber Commander, shrugged. "We have always been real, Honda-sama. But we gain strength when humans give it to us. That is why I could come to you here - the Shadow Power is strong in this place, and you have connected with me in your heart."

Is this the Soul of the Duelist Atem is always on about? Honda wondered to himself. "So where are the others?"

"They must have been thrown deeper into the darkness when you were attacked." Cyber Commander's shoulders drooped. "I can't find them."

"I can." Dark Magician Girl put in. "But Atem-sama will be angry if we return to the darkness; he was quite specific." She shuddered. Cyber Commander looked at the female monster, who shook her head minutely. Honda didn't miss the little exchange, but ignored it for the moment.

"I'm sorry if this will get you into trouble, but I really need to find Yami and Yugi - they need my help, and Anzu's." Honda looked at the two Duelmonsters. "Please. Jounouchi is in there too."

"You are not as strong as Jounouchi-sama." Cyber Commander said slowly. "Not in the Shadow Magics. And Hikari no Yugi-sensei would be upset if anything were to happen to you." 

"I don't care. Yugi needs us."

"He's right, you know." Dark Magcian Girl sighed. "But Atem-sama will be very angry if he finds out that we disobeyed him."

"Tell him it's all my fault. He'll buy that, and it gets you two off the hook. Besides, I don't think he'll be as angry as you think - at least not once we re-unite him with Yugi."

"Wait." Dark Magician Girl looked closely at Honda. "Is Yugi-chan in there too?"

"Yes."

She looked up at Cyber Commander. "Then we must go. Atem-sama once said that it is our duty to protect Yugi-chan no matter what. Therefore we must go - and we have to bring them with us. Anzu-chan and Honda-kun are not safe unless we are with them." She smiled, satisfied with her logic.

"I suppose…" Cyber Commander didn't sound convinced, but nodded.

"Then when Anzu wakes up, we can go." Honda grinned, his fist clenched tightly at his side.

………………………………..................................................................

Yugi shivered in the dark. Nothing surrounded him – nothing but a black blankness worse than any monster could be. His friends had vanished, leaving him alone in the quiet dark to wander aimlessly. Without the Puzzle, he couldn't even tell which direction his yami lay in. The shadows shifted around him, not coming near, but their presence chilled him, draining his strength. He found it harder and harder to take another step along the way, harder to move. Ice seemed to flow in his veins instead of water.

Nothing. Another step - the darkness shivered unchanged before his eyes.

"Yami." he whispered to himself, rubbing his hands along his arms in a vain attempt to ward off the cold. "Atem, please help me. Where are you? Someone, help me…"

Gods, you're pathetic. His own voice sounded in the depths of his rapidly dimming mind. The cold had turned to a strange lethargy. Can't you do anything without his help? He doesn't need you, after all.

"Atem…"

Stupid kid. No different from when you were bullied and beaten in school are you? Still needing someone to stand up for you. Hot tears began to trickle down his icy cheeks; he stumbled and fell to his knees. His own thoughts ran around in his mind, a litany of accusation.

Crybaby. Without him you're nothing. He'd be better without you to hold him back.

"No…he told me he loves me. I love him. We belong together."

Yeah, right. Fucking your other self - how pathetic is that? You are so terrified of being hurt that you only reach out to the one person who you're certain won't hurt you - because he can't.

"What?"

He _can't_ hurt you, stupid. He is only your shadow, after all - nothing without the light to cast it. Your own shadow is stronger than you are!

"No, that can't be right." Yugi held his head, trying to shake the doubts that assailed his mind.

And if your shadow is stronger than you are, and it is practically nothing, what does that make you, little hikari?

"I…" Yugi shook his head again. "I…"

You are nothing, little hikari. Less than your own darkness… Pathetic, whining, crybaby loser…

"No…" Yugi's head jerked at the last word. "I…am not a loser. I don't lose…ever."

Yes you do. You lost against Imori when he challenged you to Dragon Cards, didn't you? You lost…and if not for your shadow saving you, your soul would be dragon chow.

"Who…are you?" Struggling to his knees, unaware until then that he had fallen prone to the ground, Yugi tried to shake the words invading his mind.

Who do you think I am? You, stupid. The part of you that knows the truth, the part you hide from everyone. I am your fears, your hatred, everything you hide from the world. Innocent one, they call you. They don't know the truth…but I do. You know the truth…stupid, pathetic little Yugi, who can't even find the will to save the love of his life. Can you deny it? Without your yami, your friends, you might as well lay down right here and die. Because I can't make it on my own. I never could.

"I might as well lay down and die." Yugi muttered. "I'm nothing without them. Nothing."

Nothing.

"Pathetic."

Yes.

"No."

With the dregs of his will Yugi rose to his feet. "I may be less than nothing, but I'm all that Atem has, and I won't let him die because of my weakness." He gritted his teeth and force his foot to move, to step forward through the whirling shadows. When had they gotten so close? It didn't matter…he forced another step out of his limbs, and another. The grasping darkness writhed in his path, but didn't touch him.

"Hold on, Atem-koi. I'm coming."

You can't do it. You don't have the strength.

"SHUT UP!" Light flared around him suddenly as Yugi unconsciously tapped into the true power of his soul, determination sparking his own magic to life and banishing the lying voice from his mind. Cold and lethargy vanished as new strength flowed through him. Beside him, he could see the last remains of some creature melting into nothingness at his feet. The shadows screamed as the radiance, bright and pure, unmade them.

A stone path lay revealed at his feet. Yugi took a deep breath and followed it deeper into the dark of Yomi, his inner light guiding the way.


	13. Hunter in the Dark

(Silvershadowfire is currently placing a fireproof barrier around the computer when Yami Silvershadowfire walks into the room.

"What's up?"

"Just a little protection. You know, in case I get flamed for this chapter." Silvershadowfire smiles sheepishly.

Yami SSF snorts slightly. "I wouldn't worry if I were you. You only got one review last chapter."

"Thank you SO much for the reminder…")

Japanese Terms:

Inu-chibi= Cute little dog

Mouth of Yomi - Chapter 13 - Revenge

In the darkness of Yomi, a spirit of hate stalked his wary prey, lust for revenge burning in his heart. He smirked as he felt a surge of icy cold wash over him - the Darkness grew stronger with every moment. Laughing silently, he revelled in the sensation and in the panic that his weaker self felt as the boy cried and whimpered from the cold.

Yami Marik glanced through the swirling shadows to the two he stalked. The High Priest and that annoying Jounouchi - they would both pay for defying him. Pay and pay and pay…he giggled to himself, eyes glazed with madness as he stroked the Scales - the item had power, great power, but it was not what he needed. He needed the Rod, with the ability to control minds. Then, if he could gather the pieces of the Puzzle and the Pharaoh's hikari, he could force Yugi to put the Puzzle back together and use it to strip the Pharaoh of his powers. Then he would rule and play and play and no one would ever ever ever control him…

Kaiba would be no problem - he was so ignorant of the power within the Rod and within himself that he would be child's play to destroy. But Jounouchi… as long as he was there, Yami Marik knew that Kaiba might have a fighting chance. No, not this time… he had learned and now he wanted revenge on Jounouchi. For breaking free of the power of the Rod. For almost beating him at Battle City. For defying him… the boy would die.

Then he could concentrate on Kaiba…and have a bit of fun.

He pulled a card out of the deck his hikari used - Nightmare Steel Cage. Perfect - he would have all the time he needed. With a flick of his wrist, he threw the card down and called upon the shape of the spell, targeting Jounouchi.

From the look on his face, the blond duelist had no idea what was happening - and from the look on Seto's and the guardian Monster's faces, they didn't either. Yami Marik snickered.

He pulled out a second card - Dark Hole - and played it. In a swirl of purple energy, every living creature except Jounouchi and himself vanished.

He walked up to the cage, dispelling it with a flick of his wrist, before smirking at Jounouchi. "Hello, inu-chibi." he murmured, pulling two more cards out of his deck.

"Shit." Jounouchi reached for his own cards, but before he could play anything, Yami Marik held up his - and Jounouchi was bound to a great black stone by golden restraints emblazoned with the Eye of Ra, his arms and legs splayed and helpless.

"Inu-chibi doesn't want to play with Ore-sama?" Yami Marik giggled as he stroked a hand down the side of Jounouchi's face. Those grey-brown eyes were dark with repressed fear as he tried to jerk away from the yami's touch.

"Let me go you bastard."

Yami Marik ran his tongue up the side of the young man's neck, tasting the fear and the sweat. Oh, yes, revenge would be _so_ sweet.

"Ore-sama will play with inu-chibi toy." he shivered with anticipation as he reached out and summoned a knife from the darkness…

………………………………...........................................................................

Seto walked through the shifting shadows, cursing Jounouchi, Marik, Yugi and himself equally. Himself simply because he felt obligated to rescue the puppy from Marik - or Yami Marik, as Jounouchi insisted on calling him.

That damned vortex - he'd lost his briefcase in there. For the first time since he'd taken over Kaiba Corp, he didn't have the thing with him, and it left him unaccountably nervous.

Still cursing, Seto hoped that this direction would lead him back to where Jounouchi was - or even where _anybody_ else was. He might be a loner, but this was taking things a bit too far. Idly his mind wandered back to the conversation that he and the mutt had been having before Yami Marik had attacked.

_{ "So you say that some strange, dark spirit is the one responsible for Marik's actions." Seto asked as the pair walked through the darkness of Yomi, guided only by the slightly glowing Rod._

"Yep." Jounouchi nodded. "Yami Marik. He's a psycho - sends people to the Shadow Realms or kills them just for kicks. He's Marik's dark side…kind of like Yami Bakura and Yami Yugi - Atem. But unlike Bakura and Yugi, Marik's dark half was created by him."

"Hold on - I'm getting lost here." Seto would normally have bitten off his tongue rather than admit that to anyone, but he really needed to understand. "So Bakura has a dark side as well, and Atem…is Yugi's dark side? I thought he was the Pharaoh!" He didn't say anything about his memories - he refused to share that_ with anyone._

"He was - I guess when he died, his soul split in two and half was confined to the Puzzle while the other half was reincarnated as Yugi. Same thing happened to Bakura - his dark side was a tomb robber in Ancient Egypt."

"Okay…" Seto trailed off, lost in thought. So many different things to think about - and all of them involving magic. He looked at the Rod in his hand, disturbed by how right_ it felt in his grasp, almost shivering in it's desire to be used. _

A thought occurred to him and he blinked. "Wait a sec…Atem is the other side of Yugi's own soul…and they're lovers? Talk about narcissism…"

"Yeah…" Jounouchi shrugged a little. "Personally, I think it's not so much that they love each other - though they do, and in a way I'll bet that only Bakura has a chance of understanding - but the sexual contact is an attempt to regain the intimacy that was lost when Atem gained a body of his own."

Seto stared at Jou - he couldn't help it. "Who are you and what have you done with the mutt? That actually sounded intelligent, Jounouchi."

"And that actually sounded like a compliment, Seto-kun." Jounouchi laughed. "Just because I don't use long words all the time and look down my nose at people doesn't mean I'm stupid, Dragonbreath." His tone turned the insult into a joke, and Seto actually found himself smiling a bit.

Then his expression turned serious again. "So what are we going to do about…Yami Marik?"

"Dunno…Yugi and Atem beat him in the Shadow Game at Battle City…"

"Yes, Jounouchi, I know. I was there, if you recall."

"…but I don't know…maybe if we beat him in a game, he'll be banished again?" }

Seto frowned to himself. It couldn't be that easy - after all, now that Marik no longer possessed the Kami-no-Card Ra, he should be easy to beat. But in the Shadow Game that Jounouchi had interrupted, he hadn't actually been using Duel Monsters - just calling creature from the darkness and siccing them on him. And now that bastard had Jounouchi - who had saved him, damn it. He _hated_ it when people put him in a position of obligation.

A golden glitter of light caught his eye in the Stygian dark - he walked up to it, staring in shock at the round globe embossed with the Eye of Ra on the side. It seemed to be looking at him with expectation. He reached down, picking it up without really deciding to do so, and it flared to life in his hand. The Rod glowed as well, as though in answer, and an image floated across his mind, shaded with red pain.

Yami Marik, holding a knife that dripped with blood.

Seto almost dropped the Eye. Surely that hadn't been…he winced. Whoever it was, he couldn't let Yami Marik kill them. Not if he wanted to look Mokuba in the eye when he got home.

As though sensing his intent, the Eye glowed brighter and a beam shot out from it.

With a sigh of resignation, Seto followed the light.

…….…………….………...............................................................................

Yami Marik giggled at the screams. Blood dribbled down the sides of Jounouchi's arms, dripping down his sides in a warm stream. The slashes were shallow, but Yami Marik had lovingly peeled the skin back from the flesh beneath. The dark spirit stopped to admire the colour of the crimson blood, trailing so delicately down his skin. He laid the blade across the teenager's stomach and pressed down, just breaking the skin. The screams turned to whimpers…Yami Marik paused to savour the helpless sound.

He saw Jounouchi open his eyes, pupils dilated with pain and shock. He stared at Yami Marik as though he couldn't see him.

"Ore-sama is having fun, inu-chibi," he smiled. "Is Inu-chibi having fun? Inu-chibi do a trick now? Beg for Ore-sama."

"Fuck you, you bastard." Jounouchi spat. A glob of spittle hit Yami Marik cleanly in the cheek, sliding slowly down his skin. A ghost of a grin wafted across his features as Yami Marik growled at him. "I've got a long memory, fucker…and I'll pay you back for every cut twice-over."

Enraged, the yami hit him backhanded across the face. "Bad inu-chibi! Beg for Ore-sama!"

"Bite me."

Bringing up the knife, he slashed Jou across the stomach - once, twice, relishing the screams of pain. He was panting now in excitement, wiping at the blood that splattered his torso. With a delicate finger he traced the cuts, savoring the warmth. Incoherent sounds escaped his victim's mouth with each breath - he leaned closer to make them out.

"Fucking…bastard…pay…"

He jerked back, eyes narrowed, rage roaring in his ears. "Inu-chibi will pay for defying Ore-sama." He buried the knife in Jounouchi's flesh again, this time right up to the hilt in a lung. Jounouchi screamed, but the sound escaped as a wet gurgle. Coughing, spitting up more blood and bile, he still managed to glare his defiance. Yami Marik pulled out the blade and buried his fingers in the hole, widening it, feeling the blood that gushed out past his fingers and over his hand, the frantic fluttering of his lungs as Jounouchi tried to breathe.

Then the Scales, abandoned at his feet, began to glow. Yami Marik frowned, his attention drawn to the artifact. He pulled out his fingers, releasing a flood of red liquid, and knelt down beside his Item, poking curiously at one of the dishes. What was happening to cause this reaction?

……………………….

Seto emerged from the dark - and into nightmare. Jounouchi was bound to a stone, bleeding like a stuck pig; Marik _no, Yami Marik _ kneeling beside the Millennium Scales, poking it with one blood-drenched hand while the other still clenched a knife, more blood dripping from the blade. Seto buried the urge to retch- death was no stranger to him, but this was the first time he had ever seen so much blood.

Jounouchi gasped for air, a sucking, wet sound that told Seto he'd better move fast - a lung had been pierced. He ran for the blonde duelist, one hand clasping the Eye, the other the Rod. Yami Marik snarled and thrust one hand, holding the Scales, out towards the CEO.

Seto hit the barrier head-on with enough force to daze. Rapidly he shook his head to clear it, glancing up to see an infuriated Yami Marik.

"Inu-chibi is playing with Ore-sama now. Get your own toy, Kaiba Seto."

"Let him go." Seto grated out in the tone he used to get his way at work…the tone that nobody - except Yugi - had ever defied. "Now, Marik."

The psychopath smiled at him, shaking a finger and making a tutting sound. "No, Kaiba Seto. You can't play with Inu-chibi; Inu-chibi is Ore-sama's toy." The smile turned into an insane grin. "Unless Kaiba Seto want to play with Ore-sama too…"

"Enough." Seto growled. He held up the Millennium Rod and pointed the eye emblazoned on it at the insane Egyptian. And prayed, because he had no idea what he was doing. "Get out of my way or let him go, you nutcase. He'll die soon if you don't." And he concentrated. He had to get through that barrier…

The Rod flashed and power surged through him. The barrier shattered, leaving him gasping and breathless. Yami Marik stared for a long moment before turning and burying his knife in Jounouchi's other lung. The blonde gasped again, his eyes rolling up in the back of his sockets as the pain overcame him at last. Yami Marik smiled and jerked the blade free, setting a secondflow of blood free. Seto stared at him in utter shock.

"Now no one will play with Ore-sama's toy." Yami Marik chanted in a sing-song voice. "All broken. Poor Inu-chibi."

"You fucking bastard." Seto's voice was perfectly calm as he raised the Rod again. Jounouchi was going to die - nothing short of a miracle would save him now.

And as a result, Yami Marik would be joining him shortly.

Please R&R, kudasai! Arigato!


	14. Chaos Breaks

FYI - this is NOT what I expected to happen.

Thanks to my reviewers, and to my utter surprise I wasn't flamed! Whoot!

Mouth of Yomi 14 - Chaos Breaks.

Seto and Yami Marik stared at each other; the CEO's expression cold while insanity lurked in the eyes of the dark Egyptian spirit.

"Is Kaiba Seto going to stand there, or play with Ore-Sama?" Yami Marik asked in a sing-song kind of voice. "Ore-Sama broke inu-chibi…now Ore-sama wants a new toy." He smirked at Kaiba, savouring the helpless rage in the teen's bright blue eyes. Behind him, Jounouchi gasped hollowly, vainly try to gather air into his pierced lungs.

"Kaiba." Jounouchi coughed wetly. Yami Marik glanced over his shoulder at the blond, surprised that he had the strength to speak. "Don't…"

"Hold on, Jounouchi." Kaiba ordered. Yami Marik turned his gaze back to his adversary. The Rod had begun to glow with an indigo-tinted light as Kaiba tapped into it's powers. Yami Marik smirked, grasping the Scales in one hand. The Rod's mind-control powers couldn't affect another Millennium Item holder. Then he noticed that Kaiba's free hand was clenched tight around another object - the Millennium Eye. Yami Marik grinned. With it's power added to his, he could overwhelm this fool without a problem.

And unlike Kaiba, Yami Marik knew the secrets of tapping it's power without sacrificing an eye to do it.

With a sharp gesture, he cast the trap card Castle Walls, buying himself some time. The stone barrier shocked Kaiba enough to break his concentration…Yami Marik smiled to himself, a secret, evil smirk as he began to chant in a tongue long dead.

Seto swore to himself as the power of the Rod began to gather at last. His fragmented memories and his own unwillingness for this to be real were hindering him - but he had to dispose of Yami Marik before Jounouchi died horribly, suffocating on his own blood.

No one deserved that.

Then the Egyptian cast a spell, translucent castle walls appearing between them. Seto jumped in surprise, and cursed viciously as the power drained away into nothing. He had to get through those walls.

"Trap Master!" he called, summoning the creature. It came, solid and real, emerging from the darkness to dispose of the walls before fading once more.

But now Yami Marik was chanting something in a strange tongue.

The same language as the chant written on the Kame-no-Cardo Ra. Which meant Seto understood every strange word.

"…me Item of Power and know my voice - obey me and come to my call."

Seto shook his head. It was a spell, an ancient spell. He tried to focus, but his attention was sudden caught by the glowing Eye in his left hand. It flared brightly for a long moment, as though reacting to Yami Marik's chant, before suddenly rising out of his grasp and rushing towards the Egyptian.

"…Eye of Wisdom, Eye of Darkness, Eye that sees all, hear my cry. Go to the one who calls you. Go to the one who seeks you." The Eye glowed brighter as Yami Marik held out his hand with a cry of triumph.

Only to have the Item fly past him, glowing like a new star, heading straight for…Jounouchi.

The teen lifted his head briefly as though sensing something - and the light flared in the darkness, blinding Seto and drawing a cry from Yami Marik.

When he could see again, the chains and rock that had bound Jounouchi were gone - he lay on the 'ground', not moving, blonde hair fallen over his face. Yami Marik gave a growl of frustration, roughly lifting the teen's head by the hair.

Seto took a step forward, but Yami Marik turned towards him, gesturing.

"Chain energy!"

Seto felt loops of power wrap around his arms and legs, shivering as lose tendrils stroked his body through the fabric of his clothes. Yami Marik stalked right up to him, glaring as though he were to blame for the Egyptian's failed spell.

"Ore-sama is not happy, Kaiba Seto." the insane teenager hissed. "My Eye is gone - I will have to play with you now, before I kill inu-chibi."

"I don't think so." Seto concentrated on the Rod still in his hand. "Seven Tools of the Bandit!" The energy snapped out of existence and before Yami Marik could move or react, Seto slugged him hard in the stomach, just below the solar plexus. As the other doubled over, he brought his knee up into Yami Marik's face, sending him flying backwards, blood spewing from a broken nose.

Giving the prone, moaning figure a solid kick in the ribs as he passed, Seto knelt down beside Jounouchi. The teen groaned lightly as Seto rolled him onto his side. Ripping the remnants of the blond's blood-soaked t-shirt off , he found the skin unmarked. Jounouchi's face too had healed. The blonde coughed up a mouthful of blood, after which his breathing grew easier, deepening to a true sleep.

"That's…impossible." Seto murmured, unaware that he spoke aloud. Then something else caught his attention.

The Duel Disk on Jounouchi's arm had… changed. Instead of white and blue, the whole was bright gold with black where the cards would be played, and instead of a life-point counter the Eye of Wisdom stared back at him. Seto reached for it, then pulled his hand back. So, the Eye had chosen a new form and a new wielder. A sarcastic smirk crossed his lips.

_Looks like the puppy might have grown fangs._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Atem walked into the final room of the maze, his magicians at his right and left hand, ready for whatever last challenge Osama Akuma might have for him. Only one piece of the puzzle remained - only one piece.

A room of stone and black shadow greeted him, the only sound the harsh breathing of a hundred demons. At the far end of the room the demon king waited, seated on a throne of black onyx, bound by chains of flickering golden light.

"Welcome, my lord Atem." the demon greeted cordially. "Welcome to the final stage of the game. You must only make your way past my loyal retainers here to claim your prize - my life."

"Where is the last piece of the Puzzle?" Atem demanded, unconsciously using the tone of command he'd had drilled into him as a child.

"Here." The demon held up a piece of gold emblazoned with the Eye of Ra. "All you need to repair the link with your other self. Tell me, Atem…did you know that Yugi-chan came into my realm to find you?"

"What?" Atem felt himself grow cold at those words - the shadows whispered in his mind. "Yugi's here…in this place?"  
"Yes. Wandering the endless darkness of my realm, slowly being drained of his life." The demon smirked. "Oh, yes, Atem. There is no limit to the foolish lengths to which love will go."

"You bastard. I will NEVER forgive you for this." His anger was building, growing cold as the shadows that whispered to him.

"I can't claim credit for this one. He came of his own free will, Atem."

"Be silent." The command whipped across the darkness. "I will hear no more from you, demon." He closed his eyes, concentrating, and Shadow Magic lashed across the intervening space, grasping the last puzzle piece, bringing it to Atem's hand. The former Pharaoh let a wild grin cross his features as he dropped it in with the rest. Then his blood-red eyes looked up at the demon king. "Now - I deal with you."

Osama Akuma laughed aloud. "You fool! I've played you right from the beginning - this is my place, my power. I will consume your soul and use your strength to break these bonds. You lose!"

"Truly." Atem grasped the pouch containing the puzzle pieces, pouring them onto the ground before him. "Bakayarou. Once to think you could beat me, and twice to think that you could steal what is mine." He held a hand over the scattered pieces of the Millennium Puzzle, murmuring in the tongue of ancient Egypt. In a golden flash of light, the pieces formed again into a single whole. Atem placed the Puzzle around his neck while the Eye of Wisdom flared to life on his forehead.

"You can't beat me." the demon scowled. "No magic born of darkness can harm me. I am the dark."  
"Someone else said that to me once." The Pharaoh smiled coldly. Around him, the Shadows surged and swirled, skimming over his form. "And you might be right. But… maybe not." As he spoke, Light flooded the room. The demons screamed, falling back as Atem turned with a smile.

"Hello, mou hitori no ore."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yugi gasped as he suddenly felt the link surge back to life, crying for sheer joy as he felt the presence of his other half.

But the instant he touched Atem's mind, he knew something was terribly, horribly wrong.

:Atem?: he asked. :Where are you?:

:Come to me, my own.: Atem murmured in his mind - shadows wrapped around him, the gentle touch of a lover's caress. :We have a demon to banish.:

:A demon?: Yugi wondered as he let himself be carried to his other's side, feeling the Light within him growing only stronger now that the shadows caressed him. It was strange, intoxicating. :What's wrong, Atem?:

:Nothing, love.: The Pharaoh's voice soothed. :I just thought you might want to be here and help dispense the justice this creature so rightly deserves.:

The haze enveloping his mind wouldn't let him think; before he could figure out the _wrongness _in Atem's mind, he found himself in a great stone hall, standing just behind his dark lover.

"Hello, mou hitori no ore." Atem smiled. Yugi felt a surge of fear at the sight of his love's crimson eyes, darkened to the colour of blood by lust and madness.

Crimson? Weren't they violet before? The thought drifted through his mind and vanished. Yugi shivered at what he saw there, at the rage that surge now through the link.

:Are you angry with me, Atem-koi?: he whispered.

:Never, beloved.: The Pharaoh smiled softly - Yugi thought his heart would hammer to pieces at the love flowing between them. Love and something else, something he didn't understand...

:Will you help me, aibou?: Atem held out his hand; Yugi swallowed audibly. That mental haze grew stronger he felt his muscles relaxing, his thoughts blanking. The shadows in Atem's mind sang to him as blood-red threads seemed to burrow into his mind.

:You know I will never hurt you, my own.: Atem murmured. :This creature hurt us both - will you help me take what is ours, just retribution?:

:Not revenge?: Yugi thought, struggling to ignore the call of the darkness, to _think._

:An eye for an eye, aibou.:

For a split instant he clearly saw the poison lurking in his lover's soul and felt an instant of fear. Their link blew wide open, raw with a thousand emotions, carried on a river of madness and darkness; his soul foundered in the flow, losing his fragile hold on himself as he drowned in the love and loyalty and lust and madness and joy and rage and and andandandand...

Strong arms reached out to grasp him close; Yugi leaned into the touch. :Anything for you, koi.: he whispered, a giddy sensation in his stomach. :Anything.: All he could see was the red blood red of Atem's eyes as the other leaned down, brushing his lips lightly. Everything crystallized, bright and oh so clear. :I'll never ever leave you again.:

An unfamiliar smile crossed his features as he wrapped his arms around his darkness, who ran a gentle hand through his hair. :No one will ever take you from me again, aibou. We are one forever.:

:Forever and ever and ever I promise.:

"Now, deluded one, you face us both. Yami…and Hikari." Atem grinned wickedly at Osama Akuma. Yugi giggled as let his power rise to join Atem's - the Millennium Puzzle amplified both, raw magic surging and crackling around them. He shuddered, his eyes falling half-closed as exquisite Light surged though him with an intensity he had never felt before. No pain - not in the grasp of his darkness; every nerve ran with liquid ecstasy. Atem's vindictive rage and vicious pleasure consumed his mind as Light and Dark joined fully, all barriers gone.

The two held out their hands as one, the demons falling back, leaving their master exposed. Osama Akuma tried desperately to raise his own power to protect himself.

Two voices spoke in perfect unison.

"Oblivion!"

The chaotic magic blasted through the room; for a moment the Demon King glowed in negative as black light raged through body and dark soul before he shattered into hundreds of tiny shards that vanished before they hit the ground.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The blast echoed through the entire realm, shaking the empty nothingness. Every Duel Monster stopped dead in it's tracks - Anzu and Honda stared as Dark Magician Girl burst into tears and the Cyber Commander dropped to his knees.

"What happened?" Anzu demanded, but the female Magician just cried harder.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jounouchi jerked back to consciousness, holding his head and screaming. Tears of pain cascaded down his cheeks as chaotic images flashed through his mind.

A hot hand grasped one shoulder - pain, sharp and real, exploded in his face. His heart felt as though it would burst, beating a thousand times a minute as he tried to breathe.

His vision cleared enough to see Kaiba kneeling in front of him, hand upraised to hit him again. "Don't come apart on me now, mutt." the CEO snarled. "Get a grip!"

Despite the anger in his voice, his face was white as snow and stark fear shone in his eyes.

"What the hell is going on?" he demanded as the world around them convulsed.

Kaiba ignored his question. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah." Jounouchi made good his words, staggering to his feet with a lurch. Not bad for someone who was supposed to be dead or dying right now. Around them the air came alive with tendrils of living darkness that lashed out at them. One brushed over Jonouchi's shoulder - the skin went numb with cold.

"There's no time. Come on!"

Later. He'd think later - now it was time to run.

Kaiba scooped Marik's unconscious form over one shoulder - they sprinted off into the ebon darkness, guided only by the glowing Eye on the Rod.

Jounouchi had no idea how long they ran for, but just as he was getting ready to collapse they found a dome of silver light in their path - they slowed, but it surged forward, surrounding them.

Inside he saw Bakura kneeling on the ground, hands on either side of the blazing Ring -and beside him a slightly taller, more muscular twin dressed in a desert wanderer's garb stood with his hand on the smaller teen's shoulder. Jounouchi jerked to a stop, staring at the King of Thieves in shock.

"You!" he gasped, drawing a stare from Kaiba and a small glare from Yami Bakura.

"Yes, me. Now get the fuck over here so I can make the shield smaller again - this is putting too much strain on Ryou."

Bemused, he obeyed. The shield grew smaller as he and Kaiba drew closer, until it finally stabilized at about 10 feet across - tight, but not claustrophobically so.

"Do you know what's going on?" he demanded of the pair, restraining an urge to grab Yami Bakura's robe.

"Does it look like I have the fucking Tauk? Shut up - we have to concentrate." Yami Bakura closed his eyes, the grip on his hikari's shoulder becoming bruising tight. Outside the shield, Jounouchi watched as the black nothingness of Yomi roiled, purple and midnight tendrils lashing at the fragile-looking light. He could see Bakura wince at every hit.

"Holy Barrier!" Kaiba called. He'd dropped Marik at his feet, and now held up the Rod. For an instant, Jounouchi thought he could see a cerulean aura surround the other before a second shield, this of rainbow light, appeared outside the first. Bakura moaned as the strain released; Yami Bakura sighed. Now it was Kaiba who winced whenever the chaos outside threatened to break in.

"You okay?" Jounouchi knelt beside Bakura, who graced him with a slight smile.

"Yes - just tired. It's a good thing I had mou yami no boku here - I think the chaos might have consumed me otherwise.

"But how is it that you can see him? In his spirit form, no one should be able to except me."

"Spirit form?" Jounouchi looked up at the Tomb Robber - he looked pretty solid and quite alive.

"This is not the time for questions." Yami Bakura pointed out. He nodded at Kaiba - Jounouchi looked over to see the CEO on his knees, both hands on the Rod, eyes clenched shut. The teenager could see the lashing tendrils of light from the spell combating the overwhelming darkness outside. "He's not used to sustaining a spell like that - he's not going to hold for much longer. Your shift, Jounouchi."

"My shift?" he asked. "I don't understand. I can call certain monsters, but I can't cast Shadow Magic. Why don't you do something instead of using Bakura's strength?"

"Because my Shadow Magic would feed the maelstrom, baka. My yadoushi's power is Light, not Shadow - and because you and Kaiba over there don't have a polarity, your strength won't feed the storm either. Now hurry up."

"But…" For the first time, Jounouchi noticed the modified Duel Disc on his arm. "What the hell…"

A groan emerged from Kaiba; biting his lip, Jounouchi pulled out his cards, flipping through them with frantic haste. Shields, walls…damn, he had an attack deck, not a defense one. A card showed up under his fingers - Mirror Wall, one of Mai's favourites.

He didn't know how it had gotten into his deck, but…later. He activated the Disc, hissing in surprise as he felt a tingle run through him. With a practised motion, he slipped the card into the appropriate slot. "Activate Mirror Wall!"

Nothing could have prepared him for this. Energy surged around him - he could _feel_ the wall going up, and bit his lip harder at the strain as the first tendril hit. It crystallized and fractured, but a hundred more writhed outside the fragile protection - at least Mirror Wall was a permanent trap, unlike Holy Barrier.

He felt his strength running from him like water, like the blood that had spilled on the ground when Yami Marik had stabbed him. His body shook with the impact as he dropped to his knees; the world spun around him. Too weak - he couldn't...

"Hold on, Jounouchi-kun." Ryou whispered in his ear. "The darkness is dissipating - it shouldn't be much longer."

He clenched his will and stubbornly remained conscious, ignoring the urge to just lay down and sleep. After an eternity, he felt the pressure on the shield lessen.

Looking up, the blond could see, not swirling darkness and emptiness, but the mundane, wonderful sights of Tokyo. With a sigh, he fell forward, letting sleep claim him as one more thought drifted through his mind.

We're home.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seto stared at Bakura, who knelt beside a now unconscious Jounouchi. He tore his gaze away, hardly believing his eyes as the familiar sensations of modern Japan assailed his senses, overwhelming after the dark nothingness of Yomi.

He also saw five other figures not far away; Anzu, Honda, the Dark Magician Girl and the Cyber Commander… and hovering over them the Mystical Elf, who drifted to the ground and took the weeping mage in her comforting embrace.

Bakura and he walked over to them, after the white-haired teen had assured himself that Jounouchi wasn't hurt.

"What happened?" Seto demanded of Anzu, but it was not the teenaged girl who answered.

"Lord Atem and Lord Yugi defeated the demon king." The Mystical Elf spoke softly, her ducet voice musical and soothing, yet filled with an unfathomable sadness.

"That's good." Bakura said, cocking his head in evident confusion. "Right?" Seto privately agreed, running his fingers over the handle of the Rod.

So why all the tears?

"Where are Yugi and Atem?" he asked instead. "I would think they would be here to reap all the acclaim of saving the world. Again." To his private surprise, no bitterness leaked into his tone. It was a fact - they did the work, so they deserved the reward.

"They…are still in there." the elf answered softly. Her form, as well as that of the other Duel Monsters were beginning to fade as the last of the residual magic started to disperse.

"WHAT!" four voiced exclaimed in unison.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yugi giggled as he ran up the aisle towards the throne of the defeated king of demons, followed more slowly by Atem, who watched him with fond love softening his gaze. He ignored the lesser demons who averted their eyes as he passed - after all, he was a living God, right? They _should_ fear him, and rightly; he was a god of twilight and darkness, bonded to a god of light and joy - his beloved Yugi. The incarnation of ma'at. **1**

No one will ever separate us, Yugi-koi. he promised silently. No one will ever harm you or touch you again…ever.

He reached the throne carved of black onyx, running a hand over the cold stone before sitting down, suffused by a curious sense of _rightness_ as the gathered demons bowed in homage before their new lord and master.

Yes…none of these creatures would ever harm Yugi again. No one would ever harm Yugi again. He would restore ma'at to this forgotten corner of Osiris' realm - then he would spread it to the rest of the mortal world. The shadows whispered in his ears - he ignored them, putting off their advice until later.

Now he watched Yugi as the teen bounced with childlike delight around the throne room, exploring the nooks and crannies. Atem was pleased to see that the demons averted their gaze from Yugi as well; after all, his love was his other self, right? Light to his darkness; his equal in every way - and he would utterly destroy any who so much as breathed disrespect for him.

Yugi finished his tour of the room and sprinted up to the throne, amythest eyes dancing and cheeks flushed. A slight glow still surrounded him, the only light in the darkness.

My light in the darkness.

Atem grinned, grabbing Yugi around the waist, onto his lap and into a rough kiss.

:What are we going to do now, Atem-koi?: the hikari giggled in his mind.

:Now, my beloved Yugi, we take over the world.:

VAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAV

With apologies to Steven Spielberg - but the line was perfect.

**1** Ma'at: both the name of the Egyptian goddess of Truth and an abstract concept that might be considered a kind of divine balance or rightness that occurs when the Pharaoh is doing his job properly.

Anyway, this is the last chapter of Mouth of Yomi - don't panic, I will be writing a sequel. You don't really think I would leave it there, do you? The plotline just spun off, and the best way to finish the story was like this.

So, I'll be posting the last few chapters of Enemies and starting on the sequel. I write faster if I know people are reading!

Thanks so much to all the people who have read and will read this fic, and huggles to all those who reviewed both on and Love you all!

Je ne for now!


End file.
